German Unemployment Declines in May

1 June 2021

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – German unemployment last month registered a clear decline, according to seasonally adjusted data released on Tuesday by the German Federal Employment Agency.

The number of unemployed decreased by 15,000 in May, following +8,000 in April, -8,000 in March, +9,000 in February and -36,000 in January. The unemployment rate was steady at 6.0% for the fifth month in a row.

Underemployment (excluding short-time work) was also down in May, falling a seasonally adjusted 20,000 after -2,000 in April, -9,000 in March, -9,000 in February and -27,000 in January.

The number of people in employment, data for which lag a month, increased a seasonally adjusted 10,000 in April after +18,000 in March, -11,000 in February, after -31,000 in January and -3,000 in December.

Despite the improvement, ‘the influence of the Corona crisis is still clearly visible’, the Employment Agency said, noting that unemployment was still up by 453,000 due to the pandemic.

‘The labour market is being supported by the massive use of short-time work, but its utilisation is currently declining noticeably again, after it had previously risen as a result of the containment measures’, it said.