Around 45.6 million people with residence in Germany were employed in January 2025, according to preliminary calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared to the previous month, the number of employed individuals decreased seasonally adjusted by approximately 9,000 people. In the months of October to December 2024, the employment had still increased by an average of 7,000 people each month.
Not seasonally adjusted, the number of employed individuals in January 2025 decreased by 351,000 people (-0.8 percent) compared to December 2024, which was a slightly stronger decline than the average of the years 2023 and 2024 (-316,000 people; -0.7 percent).
Compared to January 2024, the number of employed individuals in January 2025 decreased by 37,000 people (-0.1 percent). The change rate in December 2024 was also -0.1 percent and in the months of September, October and November, it was still at 0.0 percent. The number of employed individuals thus remained slightly below the previous year’s level.
In January 2025, according to the labor force survey, 1.68 million people were unemployed. This was 271,000 people or 19.3 percent more than in January 2024. The unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent (January 2024: 3.2 percent).
Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the unemployment figure in January 2025 was 1.56 million people and thus 9,000 people higher than in the previous month (0.6 percent). The adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.5 percent, according to the office.