NEWS: Unemployment in Germany Above 5 Million

Today, the German Federal Labor Agency announced that the total amount of those unemployed in Germany has reached 12.1% of the population. These numbers having been this astronomical since the 1930s. State elections are quickly approaching and may spell disaster for the SPD (the presiding Social Democrats). With the heavy winter, construction worker layoffs followed, making one question whether the worse has yet to come...



This is clearly bad news, but it's equally important to appreciate that it has been recognized and will hopefully be addressed by incoming politicians. Answers to this problem will not come in the unemployment line. As large companies like Siemens and Deutsche Bank continue to let people go, sentiments will drop and efforts to restore a national work force will be frantically created with sub-par expertise...

Quite a few people are responsible for letting this one slip far too long....


Related News Links:
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What exactly is the cause of such a high Unemployment rate in Germany? Its seems like they produce alot of high quality goods for the rest of the world.

Are they taking a hit due to automation or outsourcing?

Most of their production and economic prosperity is in the western section of germany. The eastern side has never been prosperous since the iron curtain fell on them. As you recall, it hasn't been long since the USSR has dissipated and eastern Germany along with many other eastern european countries are still feeling the effects.

What were the levels of unemployment in Germany when Hitler came to power? I know it helped him come to power....

i'm sorry to hear this kind of news and do hope such a rate of unemployment doesn't continue, or get worse. i have one question though. are people using this percent as justification to say germany is in a downfall? is germany economically failing and this "proves" it? i say no. just as i say no when people say 6% unemployment in america proves we're in an economic downfall. just something i thought is worth pointing out.

Originally posted by jlc163
What were the levels of unemployment in Germany when Hitler came to power? I know it helped him come to power....

In 1928, unemployment levels were at 8.4%....The economy was settlling back down and all seemed to be well...

But when Wall Street crashed, Germany also lapsed into a depression...by 1930 it had risen to 15.3% (4 million) and by 1932, over 30%....

Hitler's regime was able to reduce the numbers of those unemployed, but one of his faults was in not providing the benefits he preached so often of to his ensalved workforce...

More info here...



[edit on 2/2/2005 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

Wasn't this the sort of thing the organization of the EU, and the creation of the Euro, were supposed to alleviate? Resources, trade, economies mingled in such a way that no one national entity had to take the brunt of local economic downtiurns?

Seems more like the EU exists just to protect the big companies that formed it, and the people are getting the shaft, same as before.

Originally posted by Phugedaboudet
Wasn't this the sort of thing the organization of the EU, and the creation of the Euro, were supposed to alleviate? Resources, trade, economies mingled in such a way that no one national entity had to take the brunt of local economic downtiurns?

Seems more like the EU exists just to protect the big companies that formed it, and the people are getting the shaft, same as before.

Don't be hasty, remember the EU just rejected Software Patents so all is not lost. It's only been what not even 20 years since the Iron Curtain fell and europe became whole again. Its gonna take alot more then a Trade Union to bring the east back up to speed with the west. These things take time.

How can this be?
I thought the Euro was at an all time high against the US dollar?
Where are those benefits brought from having a successful Euro?
Btw, sarcasm aside, France is fairing no better.




seekerof

The European Union is a flop and it will never be a superpower because of the differences in languages, customs and national histories. The European Union makes about as much sense as an Asian Union of Japan, Red China, Korea and the Phillipines.

The union of the United States is vastly different than all of the above, chiefly because we all share English as a native tongue.

The EU Is not a Nation State like the USA. It is a Trade Union and as for not being a superpower, well militarily they may never be one, but economically they have the population, they got the schools, economic barriers are tumbling down and you no long need a passport to travel amoung most EU Member states. Seems like a good recipe for growth to me. Don't be so sure that the Pac Rim Alliance will never happen, things change fast in Geo-Politics just look at 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. The EU is in it's infancy, and to say its a flop before its really started is keeping a closed mind. Or are you one of those people who believe that the EU is just another attempt at a European Empire?

It's all Bush's fault

Really, Germany, like France are almost Socialist countries. Look at all the vacation time they get. All the social programs, don't give people the incentive to work. Lost your job? Awww it's not your fault, look here is some money to get you by. When you don't have a legitamate military, because the US will protect you, and you tax your people outrageously, just to give it back in goverment programs. What do you expect?

There's A Lot Of That Going Around

Germany is feeling the same sort of "outsourcing" squeeze the U.S. and other "industrialized nations" are experiencing.

Part of the reason for the jump in figures is the addition of people who have been chronically unemployed to the list.

Basically, Germany is reporting its labor statistics more honestly now, generating more of a "crisis". In truth, there has been a problem for a while, and not just because of East Germany.

Other East European countries have high unemployment rates, although some nations like Hungary have taken positive steps to combat unemployment with apparent success.

It takes a while to recover from the brutality and demoralization of Communist oppression, so it's not surprising that problems remain.

However, and this is extremely important, Socialism is not the cure, just a different form of the same disease.

Western Europe will hopefully figure this out at some point. Eastern Europeans have the benefit of more recent experience with this terrible scourge.

Germany in particular seems to need to stop driving businesses away and stifling the productivity of what is otherwise one of the finest workforces in the world.

I am also cautiously optimistic that we in the United States have learned this painful lesson and are moving away from the demonstrated evils of Socialism and the Marxist religion -- the deadliest and most intolerant religion ever devised by man.

We'll see. We're not out of the woods yet, and the battle continues.

Originally posted by me again
The European Union is a flop and it will never be a superpower because of the differences in languages, customs and national histories.

The European Union makes about as much sense as an Asian Union of Japan, Red China, Korea and the Phillipines.

Umm... there is a similar partnership in Asia it's called ASEAN (the association of south east asian nations)