Germany's unemployment rate at record low in December

BBC News ^ | 3 January 2012

[MinorityRepublican]

Strong exports of German cars are helping drive employment figures

The adjusted jobless rate fell to 6.8% from 6.9% in November, the Federal Labour Office said.

This marked a new record low since figures for unified Germany were first published.

The seasonally-adjusted total for the number of people out of work in Germany fell 22,000 to 2.88 million in December.

The agency said the number of people out of work averaged 2.976 million over the course of last year.

News of the figures saw the German Dax stock exchange rise almost 1% by noon on Tuesday.

This was equal to an average jobless rate of 7.1 % - down from 7.7% in 2010.

Leading economists expect Germany's economic growth to slow in 2012, however, in line with other major eurozone economies, which may put a squeeze on wages and jobs.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks MinorityRepublican.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Their leader grew up in communist East Germany, so she knows better than to head in the direction Mr. Obama is going.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Yeah, and another 7% of the entire population collects Hartz IV , less than $400 / month ...

... and yet another ~5% of the entire population works at a 400€ job (can't find info in english - make work type of job - "geringfügig Beschäftigung ~ slight Employment")

IOW add roughly half of the Hartz IV and all of the 400€ crowd BACK into the statistik for the real number ... (roughly 6.8 million additional unemployed) = ~9.76 Million unemployed or ~ 23% Unemployment.

[wolf78]

I think you have your numbers mixed up. Hartz IV is the name of a reform which led to the creation of Arbeitslosengeld ALG I and ALG II as well as the so-called Grundsicherung. ALG I is unemployment insurance for those who recently lost their jobs, while ALG II are unemployment benefits for the long-time unemployed. Grundsicherung under Hartz IV is assistance for the working poor, meaning that if you earn less (no minimum wage in Germany) than you would get in unemployment benefits, the state makes up for the difference. The vast majority (i.e. 80-90%) of those who get Grundsicherung do so only because they have to support children.

So there are 7% unemployed who get Hartz IV plus another 3% workers (approx 1.3 million) who fall under Hartz IV Grundsicherung, which is ~10%. Plus another 1-1.5% (around half a million) who receive benefits while being retrained.

Which adds up to half your number of 23%, namely around 11.5%.

Marginal employment up to 400€, so-called "minijobs" (jobs that don't fall under social insurance requirements, which makes them popular) can fall under two categories. Either it is real underemployment, but then it is already counted as unemployed under ALG I / II or underemployed under Grundsicherung.

In the other case it is the part-time job of a wife where the husband is the family's main breadwinner or the second job of someone who is already (fully) employed (approx. one third of all minijobs). In these cases it's not counted as un- or underemployment, because most of these employees are not looking for a (better) job.

So adding ALL 400€-jobbers is nonsense, as one third already have a job. A number of others are already receiving pensions and just want some extra spending money. Most of the rest don't want better jobs, as they have other priorities (raising children etc.). But even if you're generous and say that part of the 400€-crowd falls under the underemployment criteria, you're still way off your 23%.

[An.American.Expatriate]

No - HartzIV did away with ALGII and lumped all of them with the rest of the welfare recipients - it was DESIGNED to hide the unemployment rate and shift the burden of payments from the ALV (unemployment insurance) to the SV (Welfare).

Re: the 400€ people: I only counted the ones which only had one such job as thier main source of income. AND - the only reason these jobs are “popular” is because the Government can force someone take take such a job so that they fall off the unemployment roles.

The Germans have ALWAYS used accounting tricks to hide the real numbers and make themselves look better than they truely are - the old trick was to take everyone in government sponsered vocational retraining and remove the from the unemployment roles - even though they were still collecting not only unemployment for up to two years - but the schooling was paid for as well.

[An.American.Expatriate]

I must correct something in my previous post -

you are CORRECT in so far as you refer to ALGI/II - I was continueing under an older definition.

Hartz IV however takes over when ALGII is finished.

My confusion stemed from the fact that even in the common language the two are sometimes mixed up - the old “Arbeitslosenhilfe” was for the long term unemployed and this was “merged” into the Sozialversicherung (Welfare). The old Arbeitslosengeld was split into ALGI & ALGII.

[wolf78]

Hartz IV however takes over when ALGII is finished.

Nope. Hartz I-IV is neither a specific law nor a type of benefit. It's a set of reforms, more or less like this:
Hartz I: Support for retraining, temp(orary work) sector reforms
Hartz II: Minijobs, support for new business start-ups.
Hartz III: Overhaul of the employment services
Hartz IV: Reform of unemployment benefits and the welfare system

Hartz IV changed the former three-pillar system - Arbeitslosengeld, Arbeitslosenhilfe, Sozialhilfe - to two pillars: Arbeitslosengeld (ALG) I and II
Arbeitslosengeld, i.e. unemployment insurance, became ALG I and remained an insurance, i.e. you pay something in and in case you get laid off, you receive a certain percentage of your last salary for a limited period of time (ALG I: 6-12 months, exceptions for older employees).
Under the old scheme there was Arbeitslosenhilfe, i.e. unemployment benefits (which was paid after Arbeitslosengeld indefinitely, and also depended on your last salary, meaning you got 55% or so of your last income as long as you theoretically were available to work) and Sozialhilfe, i.e. welfare for those who cannot work, which only covered the basic necessities for survival.

Hartz IV basically did away with Arbeitslosenhilfe by merging it with Sozialhilfe into ALG II. ALG II like welfare also covers just the bare necessities while at the same time expecting availability for work (except for the disabled) and severly cutting benefits if one doesn't show up for work or at the employment office.

So when somebody says that he falls under Hartz IV, it usually means that he's complaining that he only receives measly benefits under the new ALG II, even though he might have worked for decades.

To give an impression of unemployment / welfare benefits under ALG II, here's a rough overview over the standard monthly rates (in Euros):

Food 130
Clothing, shoes 30
Electricity, repairs 30
Appliances, furniture 30
Soap, toothpaste etc. 15
Transportation 20
Communication 30
plus other stuff for a total of 370€, 260 if there are any infractions like not reporting for work, 150 for repeat offenders. (In addition one can apply for rent for a tiny studio appartment or shared housing, which is covered under a different law).