84,000 fewer unemployed than in April

The number of unemployed fell significantly in May. According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 2.7 million people were unemployed. The unemployment rate is currently 5.9 percent.

After the long corona tunnel, light is in sight again on the German job market. The spring recovery continued in May and the number of unemployed continued to decline. According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 2.7 million people were unemployed. That is 84,000 fewer than in April and 126,000 fewer than in May a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 points to 5.9 percent.

654,000 vacancies

There are also rays of hope when it comes to the number of vacancies. In May, 654,000 vacancies were reported to the Federal Agency, 70,000 more than a year ago. BA boss Detlef Scheele rated the development as “the first signs of a comprehensive improvement in the labor market”. The consequences of the corona crisis are still very clearly visible, but they are becoming smaller.

Also less short-time work

There is also now significantly less short-time work. Between May 1 and May 26, companies only registered short-time work for 96,000 people. Experience shows that short-time work is used less than as a precautionary measure. Short-time work benefits were actually paid in March 2021 for 2.61 million people. This meant that the number fell again in March for the first time since November 2020 – when there was another corona lockdown. At its peak, almost six million people in Germany had taken out short-time allowance in April 2020. For the use of short-time work, data is only available after a two-month delay.