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Employment agency in Schmalkalden, Thuringia
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / DPA
Unemployment in Germany rose slightly in February due to the corona pandemic, which is unusual for the season.
According to the Federal Employment Agency, 2.904 million people were unemployed, 4,000 more than in January and 509,000 more than in February 2020. Seasonally adjusted, the number of unemployed rose by 9,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.3 percent.
In normal years, unemployment in Germany falls slightly in February compared to January because the first negative winter effects subside around this time.
"Individual sectors are feeling the consequences of the lockdown," said the chairman of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, on Tuesday in Nuremberg.
The February statistics included data collected up to February 11th.
Short-time work continues to secure employment on a large scale and prevent unemployment, said Scheele.
Between February 1 and February 24, the Federal Agency received short-time work notifications for 500,000 people.
The level has increased again since November 2020, mainly due to the closings in retail and hospitality.
Actual data on short-time working is only available until December last year.
Accordingly, in the last month of last year, 2.39 million people were paid short-time work benefits.
The peak was reached in April last year with almost six million people.
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dab / Reuters
