Germany’s labour market is barely adding jobs, with the slowest growth since the post-pandemic hiring surge of 2022, new government data showed on Friday.
In the second quarter of the year, the number of people in work rose by only about 10,000 from a year earlier. That is a negligible increase compared with the 679,000 new jobs created in mid-2022, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Employment was almost unchanged from the first quarter, averaging 46 million people in work from April to June. Adjusted for seasonal effects, just 7,000 jobs were added.
Total hours worked fell 0.5% year-on-year to 14.4 billion, with average hours per worker also down 0.5% to 315.4 hours during the quarter, according to the Institute for Employment Research.
Manufacturing and construction shed jobs, losing 141,000 (-1.7%) and 21,000 (-0.8%) workers respectively. These declines were offset by gains in services, which employed 178,000 more people than a year earlier.