You're reading: Germany seeks to attract young European jobseekers

BERLIN — Germany is launching a program to help young jobless Europeans learn German and find jobs in the bloc's biggest economy. 

Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the €40 million ($52 million) program is a sign of European solidarity but will also help address Germany’s shortage of skilled labor.

The labor ministry says the program will finance language training in the applicants’ country of origin and find them jobs or apprenticeships in Germany.

It says helping applicants to overcome the language barrier would remove the biggest obstacle for unemployed Europeans to seek a job in other EU countries.

Germany has the eurozone’s lowest rate of unemployment for people under the age of 25. That rate has skyrocketed to about 50 percent in Spain and Greece.