Concern over unemployment and financial security amongst its citizens, has taken its toll on the largest economy in Europe, with a study done by the GfK market research group showing that consumer confidence in Germany is in its fourth month of continual decline.

Even as Germany shrugs off the shackles of the worst recession since the Great Depression, experts believe that the road to recovery is going to be anything but a smooth ride. Tax cut packages worth 8.5 billion Euros for the year 2010, have been passed by the new coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel. However, this has done little to instill confidence in the consumers who continue to be victims of mass layoffs with many hundreds of thousands finding meager part time work under the government's "Kurzarbeit" scheme.

According to Rolf Buerkl of the Nuremberg based market research Company, "The threat of rising unemployment as well as the weakened economic recovery played a considerable role. An expected rise in unemployment in the coming months and fears of redundancies mean that consumers are less optimistic in their income expectations. In terms of consumption, 2010 is likely to be a more difficult year than 2009".