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The mood among companies and consumers is tense, but there is still no sign of this on the labor market.
The number of vacancies in Germany continued to rise in the first quarter and reached a new high.
As reported by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB), the number of vacancies grew by 51,000 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 to 1.74 million.
“This surpassed the record from the previous quarter,” explained the research institute belonging to the Federal Employment Agency (BA).
"All in all, it can be seen that a clear recovery of the labor market from the corona crisis at the beginning of the year was on the way and that development remained robust until the end of the first quarter despite the war in Ukraine," said IAB labor market researcher Alexander Kubis.
The fact that the number of vacancies rose again “sharp” after the corona crisis and that the number of unemployed also fell significantly is now “an indication that the search for personnel is becoming more difficult again in many areas,” he added.
Gas freeze could change everything
At the same time, IAB director Bernd Fitzenberger urged caution with a view to further developments.
"Despite the robustness of the labor market to date, the Ukraine war and supply bottlenecks are dampening economic development," he said.
"There is a risk of a severe slump in the labor market if the war escalates further and energy supplies from Russia are stopped."
According to the IAB, there were around 140 unemployed people for every 100 vacancies advertised by companies in the first quarter.
Four times a year, the IAB examines the entire job vacancy, including those jobs that are not reported to the employment agencies.
In the first quarter, answers were received from around 7,600 employers in all sectors of the economy.
mmq/Reuters/dpa
