In the vacation month of august, unemployment in the main-rhon region increased slightly, as expected. There were 8041 people registered as unemployed in the main-rhon region. Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed people increased by 656 people. The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent. This was a normal development for this time of year, according to the employment market report. In august 2018, the unemployment rate was 3.0 percent, down by 0.2 percentage points. At that time, 580 fewer people were unemployed.
"The seasonal increase in unemployment during the summer months is due in no small part to the increased number of unemployed young people who have completed their education. In addition, the summer vacations mean that hiring tends to be postponed until september", thomas stelzer, head of the schweinfurt employment agency, explains the development. Almost all groups of people reported by the statistics were affected by the summer lull in the labor market in august compared to the same month of the previous year. The number of older people (aged 50 and over) was particularly high, with an increase of 237 people (8.3 percent). Also the foreign mitburgers recorded an increase of 158 people (10.9 percent). Younger people (15 to 25 years) were affected with an increase of 153 people (14.5 percent).
"Among young people, we expect a significant drop in unemployment over the course of september, as companies step up hiring of new employees after the summer break.", according to stelzer. Across all groups of people, it was above all the manpower sector that was particularly strongly involved in the increase in unemployment, with 560 people (14.3 percent) compared to the previous year.
Good opportunities for apprentices
Nevertheless, there was some movement on the labor market in august. This was reflected in the number of people entering and leaving employment. In august, 850 people deregistered for employment. However, the number of people moving from employment to unemployment was considerably higher, at 1065.
Capacity utilization at companies is not developing uniformly at present. While many businesses are doing well, some companies are experiencing a significant drop in orders. "We have observed that the need for advice from regional companies has increased in recent months. Applications for short-time work are also on the rise", stelzer continues. The number of companies that had registered short-time work for their employees was 28. Compared with the previous month, the number of establishments increased by five and the number of people affected by 204 to 645 employees.
In august, 797 unemployed people with a refugee background were paid in the region main-rhon. That was 9.9 percent of all registered unemployed people. Compared to july, the number has increased by 147 people, which is due to the expiration of some integration decreases.
"In the vacation month of august, demand for labor remained high due to the good level of capacity utilization at companies in the region", stelzer explains. In august 1028 new job offers were received. This corresponds to an increase of 131 job offers (14.6 percent) compared to the previous month. The situation is extremely favorable for young people who are still looking for an apprenticeship to start their training in the fall of 2019. Since october 2018, 2862 young people have turned to the vocational counseling service of the schweinfurt employment agency in their search for a training position. This is a decrease of 220 people (7.1 percent) compared to the previous year. In the same period 4233 vocational training positions were reported. This was 34 apprenticeships (0.8 percent) less than in the same period the previous year. In august, 234 young people were still looking for an apprenticeship, four (1.7 percent) more than in the previous year. They had a choice of 1198 unfilled vocational training positions. A relatively large number of young people are interested in office and administrative jobs, whereas there are only a few people interested in many jobs in the trades (sanitary, food, cleaning), in the hotel and catering industry or in construction", according to Stelzer.