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Waiting area of the Berlin-Mitte employment agency (archive image)
Photo: Thomas Trutschel/photothek.net / imago images/photothek
The number of unemployed in Germany rose by around 162,000 to almost 2.62 million due to the winter break in January.
As reported by the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg, the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 5.7 percent compared to December.
Compared to January last year, 154,000 more people were unemployed.
Seasonally adjusted – i.e. taking into account the effects typical of this time of year – the number of unemployed fell by around 15,000.
"The job market remained stable at the beginning of the year," said BA boss Andrea Nahles.
"However, the effects of the geopolitical and economic uncertainties are still evident."
The Federal Agency explained the increase in the number of unemployed compared to the same month last year by considering Ukrainian refugees in the labor market statistics.
Without the refugees, the number of unemployed would have fallen compared to January 2022.
So-called underemployment, which in addition to unemployment also includes changes in labor market policies and short-term incapacity to work, was just under 3.5 million in January 2023.
That was 269,000 more than a year ago.
According to preliminary extrapolated data from the Federal Employment Agency, short-time work benefits were paid to 208,000 employees in January.
As a result, utilization has recently increased noticeably again.
dab/dpa