“Unemployment has increased because of the start of the summer break. Companies continue to be very reluctant to register new jobs and employment subject to social insurance contributions is barely increasing,” said Andrea Nahles, Chairwoman of the Federal Employment Agency of Germany (BA), at the monthly press conference in Nuremberg today.
Unemployment figure in July:
+ 65,000 to 2,979,000
Unemployment figure compared to the previous year:
+ 171,000
Unemployment rate compared to the previous month:
+ 0.1 percentage point to 6.3 percent
Unemployment, underemployment and joblessness
Unemployment increased by 65,000 to 2,979,000 in July 2025 during the start of the summer break. Seasonally adjusted, it increased by 2,000 compared to the previous month. The unemployment figure is 171,000 higher compared to July of last year. The unemployment rate increased compared to June by 0.1 percentage point to 6.3 percent. Compared to the same month last year, the rate has increased by 0.3 percentage point. The unemployment rate determined by the German Federal Statistical Office based on the ILO employment concept was 3.6 percent in June.
In addition to unemployment, underemployment includes labour market policy and short-term incapacity for work and, therefore, paints a more comprehensive picture. Seasonally adjusted, it dropped by 10,000 compared to the previous month. In July, it was at 3,609,000. That was 31,000 more than one year ago.
Short-time work
Companies must submit notification of the expected loss of work before the start of short-time work. Based on current data, 39,000 people were notified of cyclical short-time work from 1 July up to and including 27 July.
Current data on actual utilisation is available up to May. Based on provisional and projected data, 218,000 employees were paid cyclical short-time benefit this month. That was 12,000 fewer than in the previous month, but 27,000 more than in May of the previous year.
Gainful employment and employment
The German Federal Statistical Office states that the seasonally adjusted number of
people in employment (based on the domestic concept) dropped by 19,000 in June
2025 compared to the previous month. At 46.02 million people, it is 9,000 fewer than
in the previous year. According to BA projections, seasonally adjusted employment
subject to social security contributions dropped by 16,000 between April 2025 and
May 2025. Compared to the previous year, at 34.91 million employees it was 24,000
higher, whereby the increase was solely based on foreign nationals. In May, 7.66
million people were in marginally paid employment, 7,000 more than in the same
month last year. Of these, 4.17 million were exclusively in marginally paid
employment and 3.48 million in marginally paid employment as a secondary job.
Demand for labour
In July, 628,000 jobs were registered with the BA, 75,000 fewer than one year ago.
The BA Job Index (BA-X) – an indicator of the demand for labour in Germany that
takes into account both the number of registered jobs and the number of new jobs –
dropped by 1 point to 98 points in July 2025. Compared to the same month last year,
the BA-X is 10 points lower.
Cash benefits in the case of unemployment and need for support
In July 2025, 991,000 people received unemployment benefit according to BA. The
projected number of people eligible for citizens’ benefit who were capable of working
was 3,877,000 in July. Therefore, 7.0 percent of people of working age living in
Germany were in need of support.
Training market
Since October 2024, 414,000 applicants for a vocational training position have
registered with the employment agencies and job centres, 12,000 more than in the
same period last year. Of these, 140,000 were still unplaced in July. At 466,000, the
number of registered vocational training places was 26,000 lower than in the same
period last year. In July, 182,000 unfilled vocational training places were still
available. In July, the training market remains in flux. Above all, the number of unfilled
training places and unplaced applicants will continue to decrease significantly during
the summer months.