Germany’s labour market showed stability in May 2025, with employment figures remaining largely consistent month-on-month. Provisional data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) indicates approximately 45.8 million individuals residing in Germany were employed during the month. Seasonally adjusted, the number of people in employment experienced a negligible increase of 1,000, maintaining nearly the same level as the previous month.
Following a decrease of 14,000 individuals in January and subsequent modest increases of 9,000 and 5,000 in February and March respectively, the employment figures have remained relatively constant since December 2024. April also saw no change in the total number of employed individuals.
Unadjusted for seasonal variations, the number of employed individuals increased by 85,000 (+0.2%), a seasonal rise common for May. However, this increase was slightly less pronounced compared to the average increase observed in May of 2022-2024 (+100,000).
Compared to May 2024, the number of employed individuals decreased by 64,000 (-0.1%). This pattern of a -0.1% change in comparison to the corresponding month of the previous year has persisted since December 2024, continuing a slight downward trend observed in the labour market since November 2024.
The labour force survey reveals that 1.65 million people were unemployed in May 2025, representing an increase of 94,000 individuals, or 6.0%, compared to May 2024. This translates to an unemployment rate of 3.8%, a rise of 0.2 percentage points from the 3.6% recorded in May 2024.
Adjusting for seasonal and irregular fluctuations, the number of unemployed individuals reached 1.61 million, a slight increase of 2,000 individuals (+0.1%) compared to the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7% for the month.