Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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Germany's unemployment rose by 10,000 in December, less than expected. The job rate stayed stable at 6.1%, but a rise above 3 million unemployed is anticipated by 2025.
BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of people out of work in Germany rose less than expected in December, federal labour office figures showed on Friday.
The office said the number of unemployed increased by 10,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.87 million. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected that figure to rise by 15,000.
"The winter break on the labour market begins in December. As a result, unemployment and underemployment increased in December, as is usual for this month," said labour office head Andrea Nahles.
Due to the subdued economic outlook, the number of unemployed is expected to continue to rise this year, exceeding the 3 million mark for the first time in 10 years at the beginning of 2025.
The average unemployment rate for the year edged higher to 6.0% in 2024 from 5.7% in 2023, according to the office.
"Looking back, the ongoing economic downturn in 2024 has left increasingly deep marks on the labour market," said Nahles.
The seasonally adjusted job rate remained stable at 6.1%.
There were 654,000 job openings in December, 59,000 fewer than a year ago, showing a slowdown in labour demand, the federal labour office said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Editing by Friederike Heine and Miranda Murray)
The article discusses the rise in German unemployment in December 2023, which was less than expected.
Unemployment typically rises in December due to the winter break in the labour market.
Unemployment is expected to exceed 3 million by early 2025 due to a subdued economic outlook.
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