The number of employed residents of Germany has been growing for the eighth consecutive year, reaching record levels
Compared to 2013, the number of employed increased by 0.9 percent, or by 372,000 people. Remarkably, the number of workers increased in all sectors of the economy without exception. In the services sector alone, 320,000 more people were able to find work in 2014 than in 2013.
In the past year, 2.95 million unemployed were officially registered in Germany, which is 3.5% less than in 2013. “In our country, the problem of unemployment is still not as acute as in other European Union countries,” emphasize experts from the Federal Statistical Office. According to their data, the main reason for the positive dynamics in the labor market was “the increase in the labor force due to foreigners and the general increase in the likelihood of employment in today’s favorable economic conditions.”
According to statisticians, the growth in the number of workers after the 2009 recession is associated with more active employment of women and older people, as well as immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe. It seems that in Germany today it is still much more profitable and safer to “work for someone else” than to run your own business. In any case, the number of private entrepreneurs in the country decreased again by 52,000 people to 4.4 million.
Interestingly, the Federal Employment Agency predicts a further decline in unemployment in the coming months. The fact is that in December 2014, there were a large number of vacancies on the labor market. It is believed that employers are afraid of facing a shortage of qualified specialists, so they hire new employees regardless of the actual need of the enterprise for personnel. Thus, in relation to the population, Germany is today the EU country where it is easiest to find a job. The second largest economy of the eurozone, France, on the contrary, is losing its development momentum: at the end of 2014, 3.5 million unemployed were registered in the country.
It should be noted that consumer price growth in Germany slowed sharply, even lower than expert forecasts. The Federal Statistical Office reported that annual inflation in Germany, measured in accordance with the common standards of the European Union, was 0.1% in 2014. In the last few months of the past year, the fall in energy prices was the main reason for the weakness of consumer prices. For example, compared to the figures of a year ago, today's price for heating oil has decreased by 25%.
Ksenia SCHMIDT.
“Russkaya Germaniya”