The German labor market faced significant challenges in 2024, reflecting the country’s overall economic difficulties. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in October, the highest since February 2021. The number of unemployed people reached 2.856 million, an increase of 27 thousand compared to the previous month.
Despite strong labor demand in a number of industries, opportunities for the unemployed to find work are recovering slowly. Industry is expected to continue to cut jobs, while demand for specialists in other sectors remains high.
In 2024, Germany introduced a new unemployment benefit, Bürgergeld, which replaced the former Arbeitslosengeld II. In 2024, the benefit amount was increased to € 563.
Thus, 2024 was a period of significant challenges in the labor market for Germany, driven by both internal economic factors and external challenges. The government and business will have to work together to find solutions to stabilize employment and support unemployed citizens.
Source: http://relocation.com.ua/riven-bezrobittia-v-nimechchyni-zbilshyvsia-do-6-1-u-zhovtni/
US President-elect Donald Trump is considering appointing former national intelligence chief Richard Grenell as special envoy on the Russia-Ukraine war, Reuters reports.
Grenell was reportedly the U.S. ambassador to Germany and acting director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term (2017-2021).
He will play a key role in Trump’s efforts to end the war if he is eventually selected for the position.
Sources clarified that although there is currently no special envoy dedicated solely to resolving the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump is considering creating such a position.
At the same time, Trump may decide not to create a special envoy for the war in Ukraine. But if he does, he may choose someone else for the role. And there is no guarantee that Grenell will accept, Reuters reports.
If Grenell does agree, some of his positions may make Ukraine’s leaders think twice. For example, during a Bloomberg roundtable in July, he advocated the creation of “autonomous zones” as a means of resolving the conflict. He also suggested that he would not support Ukraine joining NATO in the near future, “a position he shares with many of Trump’s allies.”
Grenell’s supporters note that he has a long diplomatic career and a deep knowledge of European affairs. In addition to serving as ambassador to Germany, Grenell was also the president’s special envoy for peace talks in Serbia and Kosovo.
Reuters notes that Grenell, who campaigned for Trump ahead of the Nov. 5 election, was one of the top contenders for secretary of state. His nomination was eventually offered to Republican Senator Marco Rubio, which surprised and upset some of Grenell’s close allies.
Polish protesters began blocking the checkpoint “Medika-Shegini” on Saturday at 10.00, confirmed the State Border Service of Ukraine.
“According to preliminary information, the action will last 48 hours with a possible extension,” the State Border Service said in a message on its Telegram channel.
According to their data, at present, the accumulation of trucks in front of the checkpoint on the exit from Ukraine is not observed. At the entrance to Ukraine is about 150 trucks.
“Recall, at the entrance to Poland will not be allowed vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tons. At the exit from Poland will be allowed one truck per hour. Restrictions will not apply to cars and buses”, – indicated in the State Border Service.
Earlier about the blockade of trucks at the checkpoint “Medika-Szegyni” wrote the Polish media.
Insurers predict that healthcare costs will grow by 10.4% in 2025, according to a survey conducted by WTW Global Medical Trends Survey, according to the website of the global insurance broker WTW.
It is noted that the projected growth in healthcare costs depends on the region.
Thus, in North America, costs are projected to increase from 8.1% in 2024 to 8.7% in 2025, while in the United States, insurers predict an increase of 10.2% in 2025 against 9.3% this year. Expenditures are also projected to accelerate in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, while Europe and Latin America are expected to see slower growth.
While this trend may cool somewhat in some regions, it is projected to remain strong in the long term. In fact, over the next three years, 64% of insurers expect medical trends to increase or increase significantly globally. Demand for healthcare is also not expected to decline in the near future. Two-thirds (67%) of insurers expect higher or significantly higher global demand for healthcare services over the next three years.
Among the main factors contributing to the continuing high costs of health care are, in particular, the growth of new medical technologies and pharmaceuticals, more frequent use of private clinics due to the overload of the public health care system around the world due to high demand and limited resources. In addition, the last few years have seen a surge in the use of healthcare services (with a growing trend towards mental health services), which continues to increase the overall cost of treatment.
Between June and August 2024, WTW conducted a study of global healthcare trends in 2025. The survey involved 348 leading health insurance companies from 75 countries. In addition to reports from insurers, information was received from local WTW brokers representing 55 countries. The aggregate data covers 90 countries.
Metinvest Group’s Central, Ingulets and Northern Mining and Processing Plants (MPPs), which were transformed into United Mining and Processing Plants (UMPP) in January-September 2024, paid UAH 4.7 billion in taxes, up twice year-on-year.
According to the company’s press release on Thursday, in the same period last year, the GOKs paid UAH 2.3 billion.
Igor Tonev, CEO of the GOKs, noted that despite the wartime situation, Metinvest’s GOKs remain not only an economic support for the region but also the largest employer.
“We continue to implement a veteran policy for defenders who are gradually returning to their jobs from the front, retrain our specialists and train new team members, adapt and create the most efficient model of mining enterprises today. In addition, mining and processing plants systematically support Kryvyi Rih and communities by implementing joint humanitarian, educational and infrastructure projects,” Tonev emphasized.
As reported earlier, Metinvest is implementing a new model for the operation of Kryvyi Rih mining enterprises, uniting the mining and processing plants in Kryvyi Rih under a single management.
“Given the current challenges, with no objective way to bring the workload of the GOKs to the optimal level, we are looking for the effect of combining their capabilities and business processes. To this end, the company sees its GOKs not as separate facilities with separate teams, but as one large production site and one large team, and tries to use the advantages of each GOK in a single technological chain. The creation of a single administrative and management center, so to speak, a consolidated GOK, will significantly simplify, speed up and increase the efficiency of these processes, as well as contribute to the creation of new synergies between the enterprises,” explained Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, earlier.
“Metinvest comprises mining and metallurgical enterprises located in Ukraine, Europe and the United States. Its main shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ) will start equipping long-distance night trains with Wi-Fi in 2025, according to Oleksandr Pertsovsky, chairman of the board of Ukrzaliznytsia.
“We will start adding the Internet to night trains gradually. We will work on this in 2025,” Pertsovsky said at a meeting with journalists on Thursday.
He did not specify when exactly the installation of Wi-Fi equipment in long-distance trains would begin, noting that it would happen “during 2025.”
Earlier, UZ announced the launch of free Wi-Fi in ten Intercity and Intercity+ trains.
Internet access systems have already been installed on 10 Hyundai trains, two Skoda trains, two Tarpan trains, and two trains with MPLT cars. Wi-Fi access remains free for passengers during the trial period. Travelers can use 1 GB of traffic at a speed of 10 Mbps by logging in to the on-board portal portal.uz.com.ua.
In July, in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine, UZ announced that it had installed the necessary equipment to provide Wi-Fi access on 75% of high-speed trains.
