5/2/2008

Bavaria’s Economics Minister Emilia Müller reports on labor market figures for April 2008

Müller: "Good news for Labor Day"

MUNICH "The sharp fall in unemployment in April is good news for Labor Day. Not since the early 1990s have jobs in Bavaria been as secure as they are now," commented Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Emilia Müller, referring to the latest labor market statistics from Nuremberg. They show that in April unemployment in Bavaria once again dropped by 22,500 to 291,785. The unemployment rate is now only 4.4 percent. Since February 2005, the number of people out of work in Bavaria has been halved.

Between January and February 2008, the number of jobs subject to social security charges in Bavaria rose to just under 4.45 million. No other state has managed to offer its work force as many additional jobs in the last three years as Bavaria. Not even the most populous German state of North Rhine-Westphalia could keep up with Bavaria’s increase in employment figures of well over a quarter million since February 2005. Müller: "We have every chance of approaching the 4 percent mark for the rate of unemployment within the next four months and with a little luck of even going below this level."

In the light of the forthcoming Labor Day, Müller said: "The excellent trend is a clear mandate for the State Government to continue pursuing its successful employment and business policies". She categorically rejected the calls for minimum wages. Minimum wages would jeopardize jobs and put Bavaria’s great employment-policy successes at risk. Müller: "We are sticking to our goal of full employment."

Source: Invest in Bavaria