BERLIN, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The number of unemployed people in Germany rose by almost 200,000 in January compared to the previous month, to a total of 2,426,000, according to the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) on Thursday.
"The economic weakness continues to leave its mark on the labor market," said Detlef Scheele, head of the Federal Employment Agency.
As a result, the unemployment rate went up by 0.4 percentage point to 5.3 percent. For 2020, the German government expected the unemployment rate in Germany to remain stable at 5.0 percent.
Underemployment in Germany had also increased in January. The number of people who would like to increase their working hours increased to 3,325,000, an increase of 5 percent compared to the previous month, according to BA.
"In the course of the usual winter break, unemployment and underemployment rose significantly in January," the German employment agency explained. Seasonally adjusted, however, both would remain almost unchanged.
Holger Schaefer, senior economist for employment at the German Economic Institute (IW) told Xinhua that short-time work remained at a comparatively high level. "This is an indication that the demand for labor in companies is still weakening."
According to the employment agency, the demand for new workers also dropped "markedly" compared to the previous year. In January, 668,000 vacancies were registered at the employment agency, 90,000 fewer than a year ago.
