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26 Feb 2015
German labour market strengthens, supports strengthening domestic demand - ING
FXStreet (Barcelona) - Carsten Brzeski of ING, notes that the German labour market continues its success story and provides further evidence of strengthening domestic demand.
Key Quotes
“Unemployment decreased by a non-seasonally adjusted 14,600 in February, bringing the total number of unemployed down to 3.01 million. In seasonally-adjusted terms, unemployment dropped by 20,000, leaving the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate unchanged at 6.5%.”
“Compared with recent years, the non-seasonally adjusted drop was actually the first drop in the month February since 2011, a clear indication that the German labour market is gaining momentum.”
“The labour market remains the backbone of the German economy. Thanks to earlier reforms, ageing and immigration from crisis-battered Eurozone countries, the German labour market has become solid as a rock and less affected by short-term volatility of the economy.”
“Combined with low inflation and wage increases of around 3% it is no surprise that German consumers are currently very optimistic.”
“Earlier this morning, German consumer confidence continued the recent upswing and reached the highest level since October 2001.”
“Interestingly, extremely low interest rates do finally feed through to consumer behavior. According to the GfK survey, Germans’ willingness to buy stands at the highest level since December 2006 (a month before the last VAT increase).”
“At the same time, the willingness to save has reached a new record low and has actually come down significantly in recent months.”
“Looking ahead, the labour market should remain a self-priming pump of the German economy and an important growth driver. Latest data on vacancies and recruitment plans indicate that a an end to this positive trend is nowhere near.”
Key Quotes
“Unemployment decreased by a non-seasonally adjusted 14,600 in February, bringing the total number of unemployed down to 3.01 million. In seasonally-adjusted terms, unemployment dropped by 20,000, leaving the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate unchanged at 6.5%.”
“Compared with recent years, the non-seasonally adjusted drop was actually the first drop in the month February since 2011, a clear indication that the German labour market is gaining momentum.”
“The labour market remains the backbone of the German economy. Thanks to earlier reforms, ageing and immigration from crisis-battered Eurozone countries, the German labour market has become solid as a rock and less affected by short-term volatility of the economy.”
“Combined with low inflation and wage increases of around 3% it is no surprise that German consumers are currently very optimistic.”
“Earlier this morning, German consumer confidence continued the recent upswing and reached the highest level since October 2001.”
“Interestingly, extremely low interest rates do finally feed through to consumer behavior. According to the GfK survey, Germans’ willingness to buy stands at the highest level since December 2006 (a month before the last VAT increase).”
“At the same time, the willingness to save has reached a new record low and has actually come down significantly in recent months.”
“Looking ahead, the labour market should remain a self-priming pump of the German economy and an important growth driver. Latest data on vacancies and recruitment plans indicate that a an end to this positive trend is nowhere near.”