Germany's unemployment figures showed a modest decline in March as the traditional spring recovery began, but the number of jobless individuals remains above the three million threshold. The total fell by 49,000 compared to February, reaching 3.021 million, according to the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg announced on Tuesday. The unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.4 percent and remained at the previous year's level.
The spring recovery, which typically begins in March, is starting this year "without any notable momentum," stated BA Chief Andrea Nahles. When compared to the same month last year, the number of unemployed individuals climbed by 54,000, the BA reported.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment figure remained unchanged compared to February, according to the BA. Underemployment, which includes participants in employment promotion measures and those on short-term sick leave, also showed no movement on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis.
Compared to March of the previous year, it decreased by 4,000 to 3.690 million. Demand for workers continued to stagnate at low levels. In March, the BA counted 638,000 open positions, representing 5,000 fewer vacancies than a year ago.
The labor market remains "stable despite the difficult economic environment," the Federal Ministry of Labor stated. However, companies continue to hold back on new hires, making it particularly difficult for unemployed individuals to secure employment.
"The economic situation remains tense, also due to further international uncertainties," stated Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD). The federal government is countering this with measures including the 500 billion euro special fund. Bas pointed out that young people's interest in vocational training has "recently increased slightly." She wants to "expressly encourage" companies to take advantage of this and invest in training.
The number of employees subject to social insurance contributions decreased by 30,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis from December to January, according to BA projections. At 34.75 million employees, the figure was 72,000 lower compared to the previous year.
Short-time work was registered for 38,000 employees in March. The BA can provide actual utilization data up to January 2026: According to preliminary extrapolated data, 136,000 employees received short-time work benefits, 6,000 more than in February but 141,000 fewer than in March 2025.
ING analyst Carsten Brzeski noted that while the gradual deterioration of the German labor market has somewhat slowed in the past two months, he expects the labor market to continue declining gradually for the rest of the year. Therefore, and considering increasing inflation, it is "hardly imaginable" that consumers could become a growth driver for the German economy through their private consumption.
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