Germany Endures 3-Year Recession as U.S. Pulls Troops and Layoffs Spread
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Germany Endures 3-Year Recession as U.S. Pulls Troops and Layoffs Spread
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 1
Summary
Three years of near-continuous recession have left Germany facing fresh layoffs, with Commerzbank the latest established company to announce job cuts.
The economic slump is compounding Chancellor Friedrich Merz's weak approval ratings, an unpopular coalition and rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany.
A U.S. decision to withdraw troops from Germany has added geopolitical strain, undermining a relationship long central to the country's postwar stability.
The report argues Germany's malaise runs deeper than current politics, tracing it to 1990s shifts toward foreign capital and labor-market reforms that weakened parts of its old industrial model.