Unemployment in Germany Tops 3m for First Time in a Decade

The number of unemployed people in Germany has topped three million for the first time in a decade, labour office figures showed on Aug 29, raising the stakes for the government's huge investment plans to deliver quick results.

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BERLIN -

A total of 3.02 million people were unemployed in August in seasonally unadjusted terms, with an increase of 46,000 in the number of people out of work from the previous month.

"The labour market is still shaped by the economic slump of recent years," said labour office head Andrea Nahles.

Germany has been struggling with a persistently weak economy, and US President Donald Trump's import tariffs could lead to a third year without growth for the first time.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained stable at 6.3 per cent, in line with analysts' forecast in a Reuters poll.

But labour demand is slowing. There were 631,000 job openings in August, 68,000 fewer than a year ago.