The number of unemployed people in Germany stood at almost three million in February, official figures show. The statistics underline the stagnation affecting Europe's largest economy, AFP reported. 

Germany's seasonal unemployment rate stabilised at 6.2% in February, the federal labour agency BA said, with 2.99 million people unemployed.

The agency added that about 5,000 more people were out of work than in January on a similar seasonal basis.

That compares with a rate of 5 in 2019, before the German economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and rising energy prices following the war in Ukraine.

Martin Mueller, an economist at public lender KfW, said the data clearly show the depth of Germany's economic problems.

"The economic stagnation is leaving deeper and deeper marks on the labour market and so far there are no signs of recovery. Employers are refraining from hiring, as can be seen from the number of vacancies," Mueller added.

Some 639,000 job vacancies were registered at job centres in February, 67,000 fewer than a year earlier.

Germany's economy has been contracting for the past two years, and in January the economy ministry said it expected growth of just 0.3 percent this year.

Tariffs imposed or being discussed by US President Donald Trump, who has said he will levy tariffs of 25% on European exports, including cars, also threaten to hit the German economy, which is heavily dependent on exports. | BGNES