But a closer look at the figures reveals striking differences in rates of recovery across individual Eurozone countries and must surely be creating headaches for policy makers at the European Central Bank deciding how to set interest rates in the future.
Take Germany, for instance. While the unemployment rate in the Eurozone overall has increased from the record low of 7.2% set in January 2008 to over 10%, the German unemployment rate has actually decreased during this period, from 7.8% to 7.6%, an almost two decade low.
“There is a very high demand for highly qualified managers in Germany these days, and this trend is likely to continue and even intensify”, according to Professor Joerg Rocholl, Ernst and Young Chaired Professor of Finance at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT).
In an article on July 28th in the Wall Street Journal’s “The Source” Blog, David Cottle comments that the rise in July of another major indicator, BNP Paribas’s Purchasing Managers Index, was led by Germany.
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) is an indicator of economic activity and reflects the percentage of purchasing managers in a certain economic sector reporting better business conditions than in the previous month.
“This supports our long-held view that we will continue to see a two-speed euro area, with notable outperformance by countries like Germany, which continues to benefit from the strength of its manufacturing sector,” said BNP. This latest data shows that Germany is again assuming its traditional role of being the “locomotive” of economic growth in Europe.
All in all, this is great news for business school students and graduates who are looking to study or work in Germany. At present the job market for highly qualified workforce seems to be very tight, working in favour of business school graduates with solid professional experience.
At ESMT European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, over 90% of MBA students who graduated in December 2009 were in employment by March 2010. Over 60% of these graduates found employment in Germany.
The graduates also benefited from ESMT`s powerful company network. The school was founded by 25 major German global players such as Allianz, E.ON, Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa and Siemens.
Nick Barniville is Director of ESMT MBA Programs. ESMT’s next MBA Program starts in January 2011, and applications are now open. More info on www.esmt.org/mba.
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