German jobs: IAB barometer edges just above 100 points
The outlook for Germany's labour market is brightening slightly. The Ifo employment barometer also rises – but industry, especially the car sector, keeps cutting jobs.
Symbolic image · Photo: Frank Vincentz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
The outlook for the German labour market is improving slightly. The labour market barometer of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) rose by 0.3 points to 100.1 in October, just above the 100 mark, above which a positive trend is signalled. Clearly positive prospects have not been seen since 2023, the report says; overall it points to stagnation. The employment component rose 0.6 points, the biggest gain since the post-pandemic recovery. The unemployment component rose 0.1 points.
"With a more stable economy, the labour market outlook has fought its way out of the trough," IAB researcher Enzo Weber said. But he dampened expectations: "But for the moment it is not enough for more." He added: "The burden of the industrial crisis and demographic shrinkage weighs too heavily." In September, the number of unemployed in Germany fell just below three million.
The Ifo Institute's employment barometer also rose slightly in October, with companies planning somewhat fewer job cuts overall. In industry, however, the situation has rather worsened, and the car sector in particular plans further cuts. Makers of electronics and data-processing equipment and service providers, by contrast, tend to plan hiring, while construction is cutting slightly. The Federal Employment Agency publishes its October figures on Friday.