Unemployment in Germany dramatically rose in April, while monthly retail sales fell at their fastest rate last month in 13 years.
Germany has been preparing for the worst recession since the Second World War, the economy minister said, as the lockdown has shut down numerous stores, companies, and factories, although a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions recently begun.
In April, there was an unprecedented rise in the number of people out of jobs in Germany, increasing by 373,000 to 2,639 million, Labor Office figures show. That has pushed the unemployment rate from a seasonally adjusted 5.0 percent a month ago to 5.8 percent.
Data from the Statistical office reported a 5.6 percent decrease in retail sales in March, which was nonetheless a smaller decline than the prediction by analysts for a 7.3 percent decrease.
The Statistics Office said some of the losses were compensated by higher profits in supermarkets and chemists, which stayed open throughout the lockdown.
On Wednesday, the government said it was forecasting this year’s economy to contract by 6.3 percent, slashing its January estimate of 1.1 percent growth. It expects the recession to level out in the second quarter and then ramp up economic growth again if the second round of coronavirus infections are prevented.
Some businesses reopened last week, and with a variety of measures, including a EUR 750 billion stimulus package, the Government is seeking to cushion the economic blow.
One of the schemes that the government is relying on is short-term work, a form of public assistance that encourages workers to move staff to shortened working hours to keep them on the payroll.
The Panthera Post 