Unemployment in Germany continues to fall despite the war in Ukraine and the weakening economy.

As the Federal Employment Agency announced on Tuesday in Nuremberg, the number of unemployed fell by 53,000 to 2.309 million in April.

It is now lower again than before the start of the corona pandemic: In March 2020, 2.335 million people were unemployed in Germany - after that unemployment rose sharply due to the lockdown.

The unemployment rate fell 0.1 point to 5.0 percent in April.

Britta Beeger

Editor in Business.

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The Federal Employment Agency explained the good development mainly with the end of most corona restrictions and the spring revival that is usual for this time of year: there is now more to do in construction, in agriculture and in outdoor catering.

However, even after seasonal adjustment, i.e. taking such seasonal fluctuations into account, unemployment has continued to fall, albeit not particularly sharply – by 13,000.

Development is being slowed down by Russia's war against Ukraine, said Detlef Scheele, Chairman of the Federal Employment Agency.

Despite the current delivery bottlenecks, the increased energy prices and the overall bad mood in the German economy, the labor market remains on the recovery course.

The job index of the Federal Employment Agency, which reflects companies' willingness to hire, reached a high in April.

In particular, the hospitality industry and qualified corporate service providers such as architects and engineering offices are looking for new employees, but also industry, logistics and retail.

According to provisional calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, the number of people in employment was also above the pre-crisis level for the first time in March.

Around 45.2 million people were in paid employment, 0.1 percent or 41,000 more than in February 2020, the month before the start of the Corona crisis in Germany.

Compared with the previous month, the seasonally adjusted number of people in employment rose sharply by 85,000 people

The local employment agencies are currently assuming that the good development will continue in the coming months: According to a corresponding monthly survey by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research, they expect unemployment to continue to fall and employment to rise.

"The general upward trend on the labor market and the corona recovery are currently strong enough to override the dampening effects resulting from the economic consequences of the Ukraine war," said Enzo Weber, head of the Forecasts and Macroeconomic Analysis research department.

Affected companies could cushion delivery and order failures with short-time work if necessary.

An energy supply halt or a geopolitical escalation of the war could of course slow down the uptrend.

At the moment, however, the high degree of uncertainty in the economy caused by Russia's attack on Ukraine "does not seem to have any lasting impact on personnel planning," says the Munich-based Ifo Institute, based on a regular survey of around 9,000 companies.

However, energy-intensive branches of industry were reluctant to hire.

According to preliminary extrapolated data from the Federal Employment Agency, around 723,000 employees in Germany were still on short-time work in February.

It is therefore further declining.