Press release No. N 002 of 27 January 2020
• All-time high of global unemployment in 2009
• Peak of the European labour market crisis in 2013; marked decline in unemployment ever since
• Labour market in Germany largely unaffected by the crisis
• Unemployment in Germany highest in 2005 and lowest in 2019 since German reunification
WIESBADEN - Ten years ago, on 26 January 2010, the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced, in the wake of the economic and financial crisis, an all-time high of unemployment in 2009. At that time, a total of 212 million people were unemployed worldwide, according to ILO. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reports that the labour market crisis in the European Union (EU) peaked in 2013 when roughly 26.3 million people were unemployed in the EU. The German labour market was affected by the crisis only for a short time; a slight increase in unemployment was recorded in 2009. Subsequently, however, the crisis hardly had an impact on the unemployment rate in Germany. According to provisional calculations, the 2019 unemployment rate, standing at 3.0% on an annual average, was the lowest since German reunification. Furthermore the EU labour market has recovered largely. A decline in unemployment has also been recorded at the global level. In its latest report of 20 January 2020, ILO has announced that the global number of unemployed people was 188 million in 2019.
