Overview

• The IAB labour‑market barometer rose to 100.7 in August, with the unemployment component at 100.5 and the employment component at 100.9, according to IAB expert Enzo Weber.
• The Federal Employment Agency will publish August data on Friday, and forecasters expect registered unemployment to exceed three million for the first time in a decade after July’s 2.979 million.
• Germany’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the second quarter, a setback cited by analysts as a factor keeping hiring weak, with the industrial sector still under strain.
• A pronounced skills mismatch persists, as about 80% of advertised jobs target workers with vocational qualifications while roughly two‑thirds of Bürgergeld recipients lack them.
• The federal government plans reforms to Bürgergeld that increase obligations and support, with about €1 billion in additional Jobcenter funding for integration measures next year.