Unemployment in Germany has risen for the first time in months because of the registration of Ukrainian refugees. In June, 2.363 million people were unemployed. That’s 103,000 more than in May, but still 251,000 fewer than a year ago, as the Federal Employment Agency announced on Thursday. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 points to 5.2 percent.
“The labor market as a whole continues to be stable,” said the CEO of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele. “Unemployment and underemployment increased sharply in June. However, these increases are due to the fact that the Ukrainian refugees are now being registered in the job centers and are therefore visible in the labor market statistics,” he said. For its June statistics, the Federal Agency used data that was available up to June 13th.
Scheele is leaving office in a month. From August, his successor will be the former SPD party leader and Federal Labor Minister Andrea Nahles.
Despite the consequences of the Ukraine war, short-time work continues to decline. In April, short-time work benefits were paid to 401,000 people. More recent figures are not available. Between June 1st and 26th, advertisements were received for a further 35,000 people. It is still unclear whether short-time work will actually be used for this.
