Germany's unemployment rate rose at the start of the year, despite a smaller than expected increase in the number of people out of work, as the weakness of Europe's biggest economy takes its toll in the labour market.

In the early 2000s, the complaints were similar...We missed that underneath the surface many things were changing,” says Jens Ulbrich, chief economist at the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank. Back then,

Germany's government has slashed its 2025 growth forecast for the country’s economy, Europe’s biggest, to just 0.3% after it shrank for two consecutive years

The German economy shrank by 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to preliminary data released by Germany’s statistics office Destatis on Thursday.

The eurozone economy stagnated in the fourth quarter as political instability weighed heavily on the region’s two biggest countries, offsetting better performance elsewhere.

Eurozone growth slowed to a halt in the fourth quarter last year, dragged by contractions in major powers Germany and France which were held back by economic headwinds and political instability. At one end of the eurozone spectrum Spain saw its economy expand by 3.

Gross domestic product was flat with a zero increase in the final quarter of 2024 in the 20-nation eurozone, EU statistics agency Eurostat said. The economy slowed from 0.4% growth in the third quarter as businesses were unsettled by possible trade disruptions under the new administration of U.

The German government slashed its gross domestic product expectations Wednesday, saying it was now forecasting just 0.3% growth in 2025.

The uncertainty about US trade policy in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency is partly to blame, economy minister Robert Habeck said on Wednesday. View on euronews