BERLIN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Germany's labor market has stabilized amid the energy crisis. The country's unemployment rate stopped increasing in February and remained unchanged compared to the previous month at 5.7 percent, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) said on Wednesday.
"Overall, the labor market showed resilience despite the tight economic situation," BA chief Andrea Nahles said in a statement.
The number of jobless people in Europe's largest economy only rose slightly by 4,000 month-on-month to 2.62 million in February. However, the figure was 192,000 higher than a year ago, according to the BA.
This increase was "almost entirely due to providing services to Ukrainian refugees," according to BA's labor market report. In June last year, Germany granted official refugee status to Ukrainians, allowing them to receive state support, including unemployment benefits.
Germany's total workforce, meanwhile, continued to grow in January, up 0.2 percent to 45.5 million people, according to preliminary data published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday.
As many aging economies, Germany is facing a growing shortage of skilled workers. Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil on Wednesday said it was "gratifying in these times" that the steady rise in employment was mainly driven by employees from other countries.
To attract more workers from abroad, Germany's government is currently reforming the country's immigration law. This includes lowering the income limits for the Blue Card for foreign workers and introducing a so-called opportunity card for people with high potential. ■
