After years of declining unemployment, the number of jobless in Germany’s capital city have exploded to 182,628, a jump of 33,000 since last year, thanks in large part to the government’s restrictive measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The official unemployment rate is now 9.3 percent, with just 2,300 job vacancies currently available. The city’s regional head of the Federal Employment Agency Bern Becking said Berlin’s economy relies to a large degree on tourism, gastronomy, trade fairs and congresses. All of these sectors have been hit hard by the pandemic. He said that self-employed people who applied for apply for support would receive funds in two weeks or less. A total of 337,000 Berlin employees have registered for the city’s protective shield.
