BERLIN (Reuters) – German companies are less likely to hire new employees in September, data from the Ifo institute showed on Wednesday, reigniting fears of recession in Europe’s biggest economy.
The indicator fell to 95.8 points from 97.0 points in August, the lowest since February 2021, due to a lack of orders, with activity in the trade, construction and services sectors having also lost in force, Ifo said in a statement.
“The robust employment expansion of recent months has come to a halt,” commented Klaus Wohlrabe, head of Ifo surveys.
“Businesses will likely want to hire again when the economy recovers.”
The German economy risks falling into its second recession in a year according to consensus, after contracting in the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
Ifo also recalled that the aging of German society would deprive the labor market of a growing number of workers in the medium term.
(Report by Friederike Heine, Corentin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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