According to the German Federal Employment Agency, the number of unemployed individuals in Germany increased by 187,000 in January 2025 compared to the same month the previous year, reaching a total of 2,993 million job seekers. Compared to the previous month, the number of unemployed rose by 186,000. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of unemployed decreased by 11,000.
The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 6.4 percent, said the agency’s head, Andrea Nahles, in Nuremberg. “At the beginning of the year, unemployment and underemployment, as is typical in this month, have significantly increased. While employment growth is still ongoing, it is losing momentum.”
Underemployment, which includes not only unemployment but also labor market policies and short-term work inability, increased by 6,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous month. The total underemployment figure in January 2025 was 3,714,000, a 107,000 increase from the previous year.
The agency reported 632,000 job openings in January, a decrease of 66,000 from the same month the previous year. The BA-X, an indicator of labor demand in Germany, remained unchanged at 106 points in January 2025, but decreased by 9 points compared to the same month the previous year, taking into account the number of job openings and labor market access.
According to the agency’s estimates, 1,005,000 people received unemployment benefits in January 2025, a 92,000 increase from the same month the previous year. The estimated number of eligible recipients of basic social benefits in January was 3,965,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the same month the previous year. This means that 7.2 percent of the working-age population in Germany was in need of assistance.