"The increase in April marks a continuation of a rising
trend in jobless claims since the beginning of the year,
consistent with the sharp slowdown in GDP growth towards the end
of last year," Vistesen said.
In April, there were 773,000 job openings, 79,000 fewer than a year ago. Although the Federal Labour Office has seen a slowdown in labour demand since the summer of 2022, it remains at a high level. Germany's labour market is so tight that workers have gained bargaining power in their wage negotiations. German public sector workers agreed a generous wage deal with employers on Saturday, that could set a benchmark for other wage deals taking place this year. "Although this is good news for consumers, it makes things more difficult for the European Central Bank," said Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING. "Inflation is thus increasingly becoming a demand-driven problem and will remain stubbornly high," he said.
According to the spring economic projections of the German government, published on Wednesday, employment is expected to continue to grow this year and next, albeit at a somewhat slower pace.
The government expects an unemployment rate of 5.4% in 2023 and 5.2% in 2024, following 5.3% unemployment in 2022. (Reporting by Maria Martiney and Miranda Murray; Editing by Rachel More, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Kevin Liffey)
