Sustainable decline in Austria's industry: unemployment rate reaches record!

Sustainable decline in Austria's industry: unemployment rate reaches record!

The economic situation in Austrian industry remains tense, despite a burgeoning rectivet in the shopping manager index, which rose to 46.7 points in February. This value, which has marked the highest level in two years, remains significantly below the decisive growth threshold of 50 points. Bank Austria chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer pointed out a positive outlook for the production forecasts, which are 54.9 points in the positive area and thus represent promises for the future, as wtat.at reported.

Despite the increase in the shopping manager index, the producer index of 48.4 points shows that the industry continues to fight challenges. The decline in production has mitigated, but remains a concern because it is still below the growth threshold. A bright spot: The index of the new orders, which has achieved the best value in almost three years with 48.1 points, could indicate slow recovery. Nevertheless, personnel cuts in the industry remains unbroken, which has increased the unemployment rate in the processing industry to 4.3 percent since the beginning of the year, as also stated by wat.at

rising unemployment in focus

The creeping increase in unemployment, which is inevitably due to the sunken demand in industry, is still expected for the coming months. According to Bank Austria economist Walter Pudschedl, the unemployment rate in the 2025 percent could increase to 4.5 percent in 2025, which remains low compared to the overall economy, where a quota of 7.3 percent is forecast, but is still worrying. The clothing, textile and metal generation industry, where the number of staff has decreased drastically, are particularly affected.

In Germany, a similar picture shows where the unemployment rate was 4 percent last year and could achieve a forecast for 2025 of up to 4.5 percent, which illustrates the economic challenges in the entire roof area, as the Federal Employment Agency in a current study on Statista . The industry in both countries seems to be struggling with serious problems despite positive indicators.