In September, German unemployment rose for the sixth month in a row with the number of jobless people increasing by 9,000 in seasonally adjusted terms, official data shows today.

“Weaker economic development is also impacting the labour market,” said head of the federal employment agency, Frank-J. Weise, “but the jobs market is overall proving to be robust.”

The figures showed that the number of people out of work rose to 2.911 million in September from 2.902 million in August. The unemployment rate in the country remained unchanged at 6.8%.

The agency also reported on Thursday that demand for labour has declined in the month “but is still at high levels.”

In September, there were around 485,000 vacancies available to jobseekers. A year ago, this figure was higher with 17,000 more vacancies registered at the time.

There is high demand for skilled workers, particularly in the metal and electrical industries – one of the most important sectors for the temporary staffing market.

The agency reported that workers are also highly sought for in the logistics, trade and healthcare sectors, as well as in mechanical engineering and vehicle construction.

The federal statistics office also reported today that German employment in August increased by +1% or 423,000 year-on-year to reach 41.6 million.  

Earlier this month, an Ifo survey of about 7,000 mainly industrial companies in Germany showed that their business outlook had deteriorated in September, signalling economic challenges are likely to lie ahead.