Employment figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) indicate a slight contraction in the German labor market during August 2025. Approximately 45.8 million people residing in Germany were employed, representing a minor seasonal adjustment decline of 8,000 individuals compared to July 2025. In the previous month, July 2025, employment experienced a minimal increase of 4,000 people.
A non-seasonally adjusted perspective reveals a more significant decrease of 33,000 individuals, equating to a 0.1 percent decline, continuing a trend observed in August 2023 and 2024.
Year-on-year, the number of employed individuals remained largely unchanged, with a marginal increase of 3,000 or 0.0 percent when compared to August 2024. This marks the fourth consecutive month that employment levels have remained consistent with the same period in the previous year.
The unemployment figures for August 2025 show a more pronounced shift. A total of 1.79 million individuals were recorded as unemployed – an increase of 146,000, or 8.9 percent, compared to August 2024. Consequently, the unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent, a 0.3 percentage point increase from the 3.7 percent registered in August 2024.
Adjusting for seasonal and irregular factors, the unemployment figure reached 1.66 million, a slight increase of 3,000 individuals (0.2 percent) compared to July 2025. The adjusted unemployment rate remained stable at 3.7 percent for the second consecutive month, according to Destatis.