MNI BRIEF: German Firms Go Bust At Increasing Rate - IWH Data

The number of German firms going bust in December rose to the highest level since 2016, Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH) reported on Wednesday, up 10% on the previous month and nearly 25% more than in December 2022.

Some 9,600 jobs were affected at the largest 10% of newly insolvent companies whose insolvency was reported, mostly in industry and business-related services. Labour market dynamics are a key metric for the ECB as it weighs up the timing of future rate cuts (MNI BRIEF: Labour Market Slowing From Record Level: De Guindos).

"The high values in December do not mark the end of rising insolvency figures. We expect the figures to continue to rise in the coming months,” IWH’s Steffen Müller, said - though further moderate increases this year would still be within the normal annual range.