Konjunktur: Ifo-Umfrage: Arbeitsmarkt stabilisiert sich
Noch überwiegen in den meisten Wirtschaftsbranchen die Pläne, Jobs abzubauen - ein Bereich sticht aber positiv hervor.
Germany's businesses are slowing down layoffs, according to the Ifo Institute's employment barometer, which rose for the third consecutive month to 95.1 points. This is the highest level since August last year and the highest since July 2024. Ifo survey chief Klaus Wohlrabe said the labor market is stabilizing, but a genuine recovery is not yet in sight.
Industries and retail continue to cut jobs. However, the services sector stands out with a positive balance of plus 0.7, indicating more firms seeking to hire than those looking to lay off workers. Temporary employment agencies and accounting, auditing, and tax consulting firms also showed some hope. Industrial jobs are much less bad than two months ago, with the services sector slightly improving compared to two months ago.
The construction industry is slightly negative at minus 1.2 points, with little change in recent times. Manufacturing's balance is clearly negative at minus 9.4, down from minus 18.2 two months ago, but better than the last value seen in March 2024. Manufacturing saw its worst balance at minus 12.8 in retail, though this is one of the best values in recent years.
Apart from stagnant retail, all sectors showed slight improvements, resulting in a minor increase of 0.3 points for the overall index. The current value of 95.1 is calculated compared to 2015, where the average is defined as 100. The threshold of 100 has no significance.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
