Published : 4 days ago, on 05/12/2024

BERLIN (Reuters) – Job vacancies in Germany have been on a downward trend for two years, showing a decline in labour demand that reflects the economic slowdown in Europe’s biggest economy, according to data from an economic institute released on Thursday.

In the third quarter, there were 1.28 million job vacancies, down from a record 1.98 million two years ago and falling for the seventh consecutive quarter, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) said in the presentation of quarterly numbers.

“Overall, the labour market has cooled significantly compared to the previous year,” said IAB labour market researcher Alexander Kubis.

In 2024, Germany is set to be the worst performer among the Group of Seven (G7) rich democracies for a second consecutive year.

Compared to the second quarter, the number of vacancies fell by 58,100 or around 4%, the IAB said. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, the decline was greater with a drop of 446,500 or around 26%.

Despite the slowdown in labour demand, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained stable at 6.1% in November.

Due to the subdued economic outlook, Germany’s number of unemployed is expected to continue to increase next year, raising the unemployment rate.

Unemployment is seen edging higher this year to 6.0% from 5.7% in 2023, according to government forecasts.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Maria Martinez, editing by Rachel More)