By Miranda Murray and Holger Hansen
BERLIN (Reuters) -The number of people out of work in Germany rose more than expected in September, labour office figures showed on Tuesday, as the job market struggles to recover in a continually weak economy.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless figure rose by 14,000 to 2.98 million, surpassing the 8,000 increase forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained stable at 6.3%, in line with the analysts’ forecast.
The non-adjusted number of unemployed people in Germany last month passed the 3 million mark for the first time in a decade but fell by about 70,000 to 2.95 million again in September.
Companies’ demand for new workers also weakened, with 630,000 job openings reported in September, 66,000 fewer than a year ago, according to the labour office.
“The labour market continues to lack the necessary stimulus for a stronger recovery,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, faces a third consecutive year of economic contraction for the first time in its history, made more probable by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The economy contracted 0.3% in the second quarter compared with the first three months of the year, pointing to continued weakness in the labour market, which tends to lag other indicators.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to haul Germany out of the downturn with a sharp increase in infrastructure and defence spending, but those measures are taking longer than expected to translate into better conditions on the ground.
“If the infrastructure programmes and increased defence spending take effect next year, the manufacturing sector will primarily benefit, and the rapid job losses will at least be slowed,” said Union Investment economist Michael Herzum.
However, it will take some time to show up, he added.
Leading German economic institutes last week nudged up their economic growth forecast for this year to 0.2%, from 0.1% previously, and left their 2026 forecast unchanged at 1.3%.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen and Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike Heine, William Maclean)
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