BERLIN: The number of unemployed people in Germany has topped three million for the first time in a decade, labour office figures showed on Friday, raising the stakes for the government’s huge investment plans to del­i­ver quick results.

A total of 3.02 million people were unemployed in August in seasonally unadjusted terms, with an increase of 46,000 in the number of people out of work from the previous month.

“The labour market is still shaped by the econo­mic slump of recent yea­rs,” said labour office head Andrea Nahles.

Germany has been str­u­ggling with a persistently weak economy, and US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs could lead to a third year without gr­o­wth for the first time.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate remained stable at 6.3pc in line with ana­­lysts’ forecast.

But labour demand is slo­­­­wing. There were 631,000 job openings in Aug­­­­ust, 68,000 fewer than a year ago.

“The global economic uncertainties and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are still leading to economic weakness,” Labour Minister Baerbel Bas said. “The cyclical headwinds continue to lea­ve their mark on the lab­our market and require countermeasures.”

Bas said the government was providing a big investment boost for the ec­­ono­­my, including a 500-billion euro ($585 billion) special fund for infrastr­ucture.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2025