Germany’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 6.3% in November, a level stable since March, as the German government is urged to act to revive an economy in crisis.
In a statement released this Friday, the 28th, the German Federal Labor Agency said that in raw data, the number of unemployed people decreased to 2.89 million in November, around 25,000 fewer people than in October and moving away from the symbolic threshold of three million reached in August.
But the Agency highlights “the weakness of the situation” that persists and a job market that is still “lack of dynamism”, while the “demand for labor remains moderate”, according to the institution’s president, Andrea Nahles.
“For the labor market to recover sustainably, Germany needs labor costs at a competitive level,” commented the president of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), Rainer Dulger, in a statement.
The government of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces the challenge of reactivating economic activity that has stagnated for more than two years and is facing profound transformations.
The German industrial model is weakened by international competition, especially from China, and high electricity prices, which undermine its competitiveness.
Merz defended on Wednesday the action of his coalition with the Social Democrats, which has been criticized, listing the reforms taken, such as the reduction in corporate taxation and the price of electricity, during debates on the 2026 Budget in the Bundestag.
On the same day, the International Monetary Fund called on Germany to adopt reforms, namely to increase the supply of work, especially for women, the elderly and immigrants.
The weak dynamics of the labor market translates into a drop in vacancies registered at the employment agency, to 624,000 in November, 44,000 fewer than a year ago.
At the same time, more than two in three employers say they have difficulties filling vacancies and recruiting qualified employees, indicates the BDA.