The ifo Institute is warning of significant job cuts in Germany. The employment barometer fell by 1.6 points to 92.3 in June, the Munich-based economic researchers announced. That is one of the weakest readings since the coronavirus crisis. “The labor market remains weak,” said ifo expert Klaus Wohlrabe. “Germany is still a long way from a sustainable recovery in employment.”
Manufacturing and retail are particularly affected. In both sectors, the share of companies planning to cut jobs exceeds the share planning to hire by around 18 percentage points each. The situation has also deteriorated among service providers: there, the share of companies planning cuts now exceeds the share planning to hire by 4.9 percentage points – a month ago there was still a slight surplus of hiring plans. The situation remains particularly difficult for temporary employment agencies and in tourism.
In the construction industry, according to ifo, hardly any changes are planned; companies intend to keep their workforce largely stable. This comes despite a recent improvement in sentiment in the German economy: the ifo business climate index rose to 85.6 points in June, up from 85.0 points in May.
Source: www.zeit.de
