WORLD
Germany’s economy grows slightly in third quarter
Baku, October 30, AZERTAC
Germany's federal statistics agency Destatis unveiled its quarterly estimate of the country's GDP on Wednesday, DW reported.
The numbers showed slight growth of 0.2% in the third quarter of 2024, indicating that the country narrowly avoided entering a recession following a second quarter contraction of 0.1%.
Unemployment remained almost unchanged compared to the previous month at around 2.8 million people, or 6%.
Andrea Nahles, head of Germany's Federal Employment Agency, said the usual autumn bump in employment figures "had failed to materialize this year." According to experts, this is the first time in 20 years that unemployment has not fallen noticeably in the last months of the year.
However, in the long term, Germany's unemployment figures remain relatively low.
Europe's largest economy has been hit by declining industrial orders, weakening its export-heavy bottom line. Lowering demand, increasing costs of raw materials, and higher energy prices have compounded to keep the German market sluggish.