The number of unemployed in Germany increased more sharply in July than is usual for this time of year, according to numbers released by the Federal Employment Agency on Wednesday.
The number of people without a job rose by 82,000 compared to the previous month, reaching 2.809 million, the agency reported. The rate stood at 6%, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in June.
“Weak economic growth is burdening the labour market. At the beginning of the summer break, unemployment and underemployment have risen more sharply than usual,” agency board member Daniel Terzenbach said.
Compared to the same month last year, the number of unemployed rose by 192,000 people.
At the same time, the number of job vacancies reported to the agency also declined, with 703,000 job vacancies registered, or 69,000 fewer than a year ago.
The agency still sees movement in the apprenticeship market. In July, 121,000 reported applicants had not yet found an apprenticeship place or an alternative training opportunity. In contrast, there were 204,000 reported apprenticeship vacancies with companies.
These numbers could still decrease over the summer months, the report said.
