(RTTNews) - German unemployment continued to fall in August, suggesting that the labor market remains strong despite the slowdown of the domestic as well as global economy.
Figures from the Federal Labor Agency indicated Wednesday that the number of unemployed decreased by 8,000 in August to 2.95 million, keeping the jobless rate stable at 7 percent. This compares to a revised drop of 10,000 in July.
Economists were expecting a decline of 10,000. The jobless rate matched economists' expectations.
Figures released by the Federal Statistical Office earlier this month showed unemployment decreasing by 300,000 from last year to 2.58 million in July. However, unemployment was up by 10,000 from June.
Additionally, the number of employed individuals increased by 33,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of employed persons has been increasing steadily since February last year.
The German labor market remains strong but it would be naïve to think that the labor market could be totally immune to the debt crisis and the economic slowdown, said Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING Bank NV.
There are already first signs that the German labor market has been caught by the general normalisation trend of the entire economy, Brzeski said. "Recruitment plans, although still positive, have been downscaled since March, pointing to a bottoming out of a dropping unemployment rate towards the end of the year."
Consumers have started to turn pessimistic over the economy's outlook amid worsening debt woes and global market turmoil, a recent confidence survey suggest.
According to research firm GfK, German consumer confidence is likely to decline further in September. However, the extremely positive signals from the labor market along with the anticipated rises in income are currently the main drivers of the German consumers' mood to make heavy purchases, GfK said.
German businesses were also downbeat about the economy, recent surveys by ZEW and Ifo revealed. Reduced confidence in the economic outlook, contributed to a slowdown in job creation across the German private sector.
Job growth was the weakest since October 2010 in August, despite a further robust gain in manufacturing workforce numbers, a recent survey by Markit Economics showed last week.
The statistical office also reported today that retail sales recorded zero growth in July compared to economists' expectations for a 1.5 percent drop. On a yearly basis, retail turnover dipped 1.6 percent.
Germany grew merely 0.1 percent in the second quarter. However, earlier this month Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble assured that there are no signs of a recession in Germany.
read more news at forex trader
No comments:
Post a Comment