Volkswagen has been among German companies that have announced job cuts in recent times (Ronny HARTMANN) <\/p>\n
German unemployment topped three million in August for the first time in over a decade, official data showed Friday, in another blow to Europe’s struggling top economy.<\/p>\n
The unemployment figure rose by 46,000 month-on-month to hit 3.025 million, the federal employment agency said, the highest level since February 2015.<\/p>\n
The country’s overall unemployment rate ticked up to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent in July.<\/p>\n
Andrea Nahles, head of the employment agency, said the data reflected weakness among Germany’s manufacturers.<\/p>\n
“That is an important motor for the Germany economy,” she said, but added the sector was currently “weakening”.<\/p>\n
Battered by high energy costs and increasingly fierce Chinese competition, German manufacturers were struggling even before US President Donald Trump erected new tariff walls.<\/p>\n
Over 110,000 jobs have been lost in German industry in the past year alone, a report released Tuesday by consultancy EY said, with about 50,000 of them coming from the car industry.<\/p>\n
“It is crucial that we see signs of life from the economy,” Nahles said.<\/p>\n
The figures will pile pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has made fixing the economy, which has shrunk for the past two years, a top priority.<\/p>\n
“These numbers need to be politicians’ wake-up call,” said Thilo Brodtman, head of the VDMA machine-makers’ association. “Costs need to go down and rigid rules need to be loosened.”<\/p>\n
Pointing to plans to spend hundreds of billions on creaking infrastructure in the coming years, Labour Minister Baerbel Bas said the government “stood on the side of employees and industry”.<\/p>\n
“Security and strong incentives for investment and employment are needed to generate economic growth again and bring momentum to the labour market,” she said.<\/p>\n
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