Germany recorded a renewed increase in unemployment at the start of the year, with the total number of jobseekers rising above the three-million mark in January. According to figures released on Friday by the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg, the number of unemployed climbed by 177,000 from December, reaching 3.085 million. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 6.6 percent.
The BA noted that, after adjustment for seasonal factors, unemployment remained unchanged compared to December. The increase in January was “typical for this time of year,” the agency explained. The three-million threshold was last exceeded in August, following more than a decade in which unemployment had remained below that level. For the full year 2025, the number of unemployed averaged slightly below the threshold, at 2.948 million.
However, a rapid improvement is not expected. “There is currently very little momentum in the labor market,” BA head Andrea Nahles said. Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) pointed to the delayed effect of economic trends on employment: “The German economy showed a slight upward movement at the end of the year. On the labor market, however, this is not yet noticeable, also because of the onset of winter.”
The number of job openings fell again as well. According to the BA, 598,000 vacancies were registered in January, 34,000 fewer than a year earlier. The largest declines were recorded in information and communication, hospitality, transport and logistics. In absolute terms, the biggest drop occurred in temporary employment and retail.
The number of people seeking an apprenticeship also increased. In January, 84,000 young people were looking for a training position, 12,000 more than in January 2025. For applicants who were available to start immediately, there were 64,000 reported vacancies, 15,000 fewer than the previous year. Bas urged employers to maintain their commitment to training even in times of economic strain. “The trainees of today are the skilled workers of tomorrow, and they are urgently needed in light of demographic change,” she said.
The Labour Ministry highlighted the progress made in integrating refugees into the labour market. In November, six million foreign nationals were in jobs subject to social security contributions for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 257,000. This growth came entirely from people from non-EU countries. Overall, 46.06 million people were employed in Germany in December.
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