Number of vacancies slightly down 13. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot The slow-down in the economy is now having an effect on the labour market. According to the Institute for Research on the Labour Market (IAB), in the second quarter of 2008 the number of vacancies fell by 15.000 to currently 1.13 million as compared to the first quarter. This is 100.000 vacancies less than in …
Not enough continuing vocational training for elderly employees 12. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot Due to demographic change and a longer working life the number of elderly people in businesses is increasing. At the same time technological and structural changes in the world of business require continuous learning. However, a study by the Federal institute for professional training (BIBB) shows that by comparison to European neighbours the number of …
Wholesale trade prices up by almost 10 percent 11. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot It is the biggest increase in 27 years: in July 2008 wholesale trade prices were up by 9.9% as compared to July last year. In June and May this year the annual growth rates had just been +8.9% and +8.1% respectively. In the one-month period from June to July this year the wholesale trade price …
Market for game consoles growing by 30 percent 11. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot Game consoles have become a very important business pillar for the trade in electronical devices the potential of which is by far not exhausted: over the first six months of 2008 Germans bought 1.7 million consoles, in particular Xbox, Playstation and Wii. This is a plus of 400.000 devices as compared to the same period …
Business insolvencies down by 10.9% in May 8. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot In Germany the number of business insolvencies fell by 10.9% in May 2008 while private insolvencies were even down by 15.3%. In total municipal courts registered 12.023 insolvencies, 2317 of which by businesses and 7462 by private consumers. According to courts, the total volume of unsettled claims by creditors amounts to 2.6 billion Euros in …
Paperwork for statistical purposes costs 19 million Euros to German handicraft businesses each year 7. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot Each year German handicraft businesses incur bureaucratic costs of about 19 million Euros which are caused due to the obligation to live up to statistical requirements. This amount corresponds to about 6% of total costs incurred by all German companies due to reporting requirements. According to the German government, however, this amount does not include …
Co-operation increases competivity 6. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot If the wishes by customers exceed the possibilities of a single company, many businesses just have to pass. This in 37% of all customers creates the impression that companies are not willing do deal with individual customer wishes. At the same time it would be so easy to surprise customers through co-operation with partners the …
New internet portal to support businesses in the fight against product piracy 5. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT) yesterday launched a new portal on the issue of product piracy. This portal addresses itself to companies which believe that they are at a particular risk of becoming a victim of product piracy or which were already affected by it. The portal is to provide them with suitable …
Retail trade turnover down in June in EU 5. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot In June 2008 retail trade volumes in the Eurozone and the EU27 fell by 0.6% and 1.0% respectively as compared to May. In May the change as compared to April was still +0.5% and +0.9% respectively. In comparison with June 2007 turnover was down by 3.9% and 1.1% respectively in June 2008. These are the …
Less mergers and acquisitions due to economic slack 4. August 2008 by Thomas Jannot Due to a global economy which loses momentum there are currently less mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The “ZEW-ZEPHYR M&A-Index” closed at just 117 points in June 2008. Back in December 2007 it still stood at 142 points. Even though the index is currently still above its initial value of 100 points in January 2000, it …