BERLIN, Sept. 30 — Germany’s unemployment fell back below the 3-million mark in September after staying above the threshold for two consecutive months, official data showed Wednesday, although the labor market remained sluggish.
The number of unemployed people fell by 67,000 from August to 2.99 million in September, while the unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percentage points to 6.4 percent, according to the Federal Employment Agency.
“The autumn pickup in the labor market begins in September, but the start has been sluggish,” agency head Andrea Nahles said. “The economic improvement is not yet feeding through to the labor market.”
Despite the monthly decline, unemployment was still 40,000 higher than a year earlier, the data showed.
Business indicators, however, pointed to signs of stabilization in the labor market. The ifo Institute’s employment barometer rose to 95.1 points in September from 94.8 in August, suggesting that companies were cutting jobs at a slower pace. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
