“Unemployment and underemployment rise noticeably in July, mainly due to seasonal factors.” “Overall, the weak trend of recent months is continuing in the labour market,” said Daniel Terzenbach, Executive Board Member for Regions at the Federal Employment Agency (BA), today at the monthly press conference in Nuremberg.
Unemployment figures for July:
+71,000 to 3,007,000
Unemployed persons compared to last year:
+28,000
Unemployment compared to last month:
+0.2 percentage points – now 6.4%
Unemployment and underemployment
With the start of the summer break, unemployment rose by 71,000 to 3,007,000 in July 2026. On a seasonally adjusted basis, it is 6,000 higher than the previous month. The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.4%. Compared with July last year, the number of unemployed is 28,000 higher; the unemployment rate has risen by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year. The unemployment rate calculated by the Federal Statistical Office in accordance with the ILO short-term employment concept stood at 4.0% in June.
In addition to unemployment, underemployment also takes labour market policy and short-term incapacity for work into account, and, therefore, provides a more comprehensive picture. On a seasonally adjusted basis, it remained unchanged in July compared with the previous month. At 3,645,000, it was 28,000 higher than a year ago.
Short-time work
Before the start of short-time work, companies are required to notify the authorities of the expected loss of working hours. According to the latest data, from 1 to 27 July inclusive, 25,000 people were reported as being on short-time work due to the economic downturn.
Current data on actual usage is available up to May 2026. According to preliminary estimates, short-time work benefits were paid to 126,000 employees this month. That was 16,000 fewer than the previous month and around 100,000 fewer than a year ago.
Gainful employment and persons employed
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of persons in employment (in line with the domestic concept) fell by 23,000 in June 2026 compared to the previous month if the figures are adjusted to account for seasonal factors. At 45.71 million, it is 225,000 lower than in the previous year. According to projections by the Federal Employment Agency (BA), seasonally adjusted employment subject to national insurance payments fell by 12,000 between April and May 2026. Compared to the previous year, it was 69,000 lower at 34.83 million persons employed. 7.59 million people were in marginal employment in May 2026, 57,000 fewer than in the same month of the previous year. Of these, 4.07 million were employed exclusively in marginal jobs and 3.52 million in secondary marginal jobs.
Labour demand
Labour demand remains weak. 653,000 jobs were registered with the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in July – 25,000 more than a year ago. The BA Job Index (BA X) – an indicator of demand for personnel in Germany that takes into account both the number of registered jobs and new registrations – remained unchanged at 103 points in July 2026. Compared to the same month last year, the BA-X is 4 points higher.
Cash benefits in the event of unemployment and need for assistance
According to BA projections, 1,108,000 people received unemployment benefits in July 2026, 107,000 more than a year ago. The number of persons eligible for the basic income scheme was estimated at 3,775,000 in July. Compared to July 2025, this represented a decrease of 121,000 people. This means that 6.9 percent of people of working age living in Germany were in need of assistance.
Training market
Since October 2025, 418,000 applicants have registered with employment agencies and job centres for a vocational training place, 4,000 more than in the same month last year. 126,000 reported by July that their search for training had been successful, 11,000 fewer than a year ago. 147,000 have found neither a training place nor an alternative. The statistics show a total of 437,000 registered training places. That was 35,000 fewer than in July 2025. 162,000 training places are still unfilled. In July, the training market is still in flux. Over the summer months, training applicants will still find a training place and companies will fill training vacancies.