BERLIN, May 28 (Xinhua) — Germany’s unemployment rate edged down to 6.2 percent in May, marking a 0.1 percentage point decline from the previous month, according to data released Wednesday by the Federal Employment Agency. Despite the modest improvement, officials cautioned that labor market conditions remain strained, with a difficult summer likely ahead.
The number of unemployed people fell by 12,000 compared to April, bringing the total to 2.919 million. However, the figure remains 197,000 higher, an increase of about 7 percent compared to May last year.
“The spring recovery, which has now come to an end, was overall weak,” said Andrea Nahles, chairwoman of the Federal Employment Agency. “The labor market is not gaining the momentum it needs for a turnaround. As a result, we expect unemployment figures to continue rising during the summer months.”
Germany is also grappling with a persistent shortage of skilled labor, with the agency reporting employment bottlenecks in roughly one in eight professions. “The skilled labor shortage remains a major challenge for Germany as a business location,” Nahles added.
In May, employers reported 634,000 job vacancies, a decline of 67,000 compared to the same month in 2024, further underscoring the cooling trend in the labor market.
