Despite the boom, and despite various programs that stimulated part-time employment, unemployment in absolute terms was about 4.5 million in 2006 and will be 4.1 million in 2007, compared to the last low point of 3.9 million in 2000. Germany’s economic development will have to be observed well into the next full decade in order to judge the potential for a structural trend reversal.
如果预计德国将打破这一模式或者逆转这一趋势，还为时过早。尽管出现了经济增长，尽管推出了刺激兼职的各种就业计划，德国的失业率依旧在2006达到450万人,2007年将为410万人，而上一个最低点是2000年的390万人。德国经济还需要在下一个十年中密切观察，才能判断是否有出现结构性逆转的潜力。