Germany: High on jobs, low on growth
Germany boasts a low unemployment rate, but industrial production is in a free fall
A European, top, and a German national flag photographed near the German Reichstags building in Berlin in this file photo. While many countries are experiencing improved production rates and high unemployment, Germany is dealing with just the opposite
Michael Gottschalk/AP/dapd/File
One day we are told that the employment rate in Germany has reached a new all time high and that the unemployment rate is the lowest since the reunification, the other we see that industrial production continues to fall in Germany.
In part this could perhaps be explained by growth in the service sector, and in part it reflects a drop in Germany's working age population. Still, employment growth is extraordinarily high considering the production growth numbers.
Some talk of "jobless recovery" in some periods of times in some countries. But Germany by contrast seems to have a jobfull slump or at least a jobfull stagnation.