By Maria Martinez and Miranda Murray
BERLIN (Reuters) -The number of people out of work in Germany rose significantly less than expected in July and the unemployment rate remained unchanged, but economists warned that economic weakness will take its toll in the labour market in the months ahead.
The number of unemployed increased by 2,000 in seasonally adjusted terms to 2.97 million, labour office figures showed on Thursday, while analysts polled by Reuters had expected a rise of 15,000.
Germany’s job market has been squeezed by two years of economic contraction, even against a backdrop of long-term labour shortages, with the number of unemployed people approaching the 3 million mark for the first time in a decade.
“The labour market continues to be under pressure,” Germany’s Labour Minister Baerbel Bas said. “The summer is not bringing any relief, what we need now are targeted measures to stimulate investment and employment.”
She noted that the economic weakness is hitting industry in particular.
“Unemployment has risen due to the beginning of the summer break,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.
Nahles said earlier this month that improvement is not expected before next summer as the German government’s massive spending surge will have a delayed impact on the job market.
“Nearly three million unemployed people send a clear message: we need a fresh start in labour market policy,” said Rainer Dulger, president of the BDA employers’ association, calling for more efficient job placements and changes in unemployment benefits to accelerate market insertion.
The seasonally adjusted employment rate remained unchanged at 6.3%.
“The labour market is still weakening despite the jobless rate holding steady again,” said Melanie Debono, senior Europe economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
There were 628,000 job openings in July, 75,000 fewer than a year ago, in another sign of a slowdown in demand, the labour office said.
As labour market indicators tend to lag other economic indicators, the fall in gross domestic product in the second quarter also suggests weakness ahead.
According to Debono, the German unemployment rate will climb over the coming months, albeit marginally, to closer to 6.5%.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, Holger Hansen and Christian Kraemer, Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Matthias Williams and Ros Russell)
