In Germany the number of unemployed rose by a smaller-than-expected amount in April, but the unemployment rate, excluding the pandemic period, climbed to its highest level since December 2015, as the economic crisis exerted pressure on the labour market – the Federal Employment Agency, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA), stated in its Wednesday report.
According to the agency’s data, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in April from 6.2 percent in March.
According to the report, the number of unemployed rose by a seasonally adjusted 4,000 to 2.922 million. Analysts had expected a larger increase of 15,000.
In Germany the number of unemployed has not exceeded three million in the past ten years.
Next week the new German government will take office, one of whose most important tasks will be to put the economy, which has been shrinking for two years, back on a growth path.
