People have been talking about it for years. It has become a buzzword that is also the subject of passionate debate: the shortage of skilled workers. But for some time now - especially since Corona - it's not just the skilled workers who have been lacking.

There is simply a lack of jobs everywhere in the city and district of Munich, for example in the restaurant and retail trade. The frequent consequence: shorter opening hours, more closing days - although there would be enough customers. Around 14,200 jobs are currently unfilled in the Munich area - and the trend is rising.

The trend of labor shortages is also confirmed by current statistics from the Munich Employment Agency. According to these, 4,800 new vacancies were recorded there, just in December 2022 - more than ever before in the course of the past year, within one month. That was 910 more vacancies than in November 2022. The last time there were a similar number of "job additions" per month was in the pre-Corona year 2018, the press release says.

A "very good value" is that, according to Wilfried Hüntelmann, Chairman of the Board of the Employment Agency, "you can take this as a sign that employers are cautiously optimistic about the future, despite numerous crises," Hüntelmann classifies the whole thing. The demand for labor and skilled workers is at a high level. The head of the employment agency therefore sees this as a recovery of the labor market after the difficult Corona years.

Unemployment rate at 3.8 percent

This also raises the question: What is the current unemployment rate in the Munich region? There are new figures for this, too. It fell very slightly in December 2022.

According to the latest statistics from the employment agency, a total of 40,373 people were registered as jobseekers in the Munich area (city plus district) in December 2022. This means: approximately 3.8 percent unemployment rate (November 2022: 3.9 percent). In the urban area, this rate is currently 4.1 percent (January 2023). In the previous month, the figure was 4.0 -that is, a slight increase.

Despite this slight overall decline, the number of men looking for work rose slightly, traditionally and seasonally, because many construction workers, for example, take a break during the winter.

Finally, the statistics offer a look at youth unemployment. Here, the group of 15- to 25-year-olds in the Munich region was highlighted: 2,384 people were registered as unemployed here in December 2022 - 131 fewer than in the previous month.

Image by Gerd Altmann