In February 2026, about 45.5 million people living in Germany were employed. According to provisional estimates from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the seasonally adjusted number of workers fell by 10,000 people (0.0 %) compared with the previous month, continuing the downward trend that began in August 2025. Between May 2025 and January 2026, the monthly employment level had averaged a decline of 12,000 persons.
Without seasonality, the employment figure in February 2026 was 4,000 persons (0.0 %) lower than in January. Over the February average of 2023‑2025, however, employment had risen by 20,000 people relative to the preceding month.
Year‑on‑year, February 2026’s employment count was down 111,000 people (-0.2 %), extending the persistent decline observed since August 2025. In October and November 2025, the change versus the same month in the previous year had been -0.1 %; in December 2025 and January 2026 it had been -0.2 %.
Unemployment figures from the labour force survey show that 1.84 million people were jobless in February 2026-a rise of 233,000 people or 14.5 % relative to February 2025. The unemployment rate increased to 4.2 % in February, up 0.5 percentage points from 3.7 % in February 2025.
After adjusting for seasonal and irregular effects, February 2026’s number of unemployed individuals was 1.76 million-two thousand fewer (-0.1 %) than in January. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.0 %.