Germany’s jobless likely dropped in January, labor market likely to moderate

Germany's number of unemployed people is likely to have declined 12,000 in January after a drop of 14,000 in December. Even if the PMI employment survey dropped slightly in January, it continues to be a high level of nearly 54, hinting at continued growth in employment. Moreover, the total number of vacancies is increasing, but at a slower pace in the last two months, and continues to be at a record high level of 620,000 in December.

The German labor market is likely to moderate due to the weak demand scenario in Q4 and rise in uncertainty regarding the global outlook in the beginning of 2016. The large inflow of refugees and migrants in Germany will be the main challenge for the country in 2016.