BERLIN (MNI) – German Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen said
Thursday that the positive momentum of the country’s labor market has
begun to weaken.
“Unemployment is moving sidewards,” she said.
“Businesses are taking an observant stance,” von der Leyen
explained. “They’re holding on to their staff but they are also hesitant
to hire new workers in the current uneasy situation.”
The minister observed, however, that the labor market is still
“relatively robust in a very unsettled environment.”
After climbing by 11,000 people to 2.902 million in August, the
unemployment level rose by an additional 9,000 jobseekers to reach a
seasonally-adjusted 2.911 million in September, the highest since
September 1991, the German Labor Office said earlier today.
The Labor Office’s IAB research institute forecast last week that
annual average unemployment would rise to 2.934 million next year from a
projected 2.897 million this year.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@mni-news.com
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