German jobless figures may have dropped sharply in recent years, but almost one quarter of workers are now employed in the low-wage sector, said a report Sunday on a new labour market study. The study, reported in the Spiegel news weekly, was set to fuel election-year debate about inequality and a growing army of "working poor" in Europe's biggest economy after far-reaching labour market reforms of recent years.
The study by the Hans-Boeckler Foundation, which is close to the labour union movement, said the number of unemployed had fallen by two million from a level of 4.9 million in 2005, but that this had not led to more equality in wages.