According to preliminary results from the Balance of Employment, approximately 45.60 million individuals residing in Germany were employed in September 2026 (based on the domestic concept). When adjusted for seasonal factors, the number of employed persons remained nearly unchanged compared to the previous month, showing a change of -4,000 persons (0.0%). However, between January and August 2026, there was an average monthly decrease of 19,000 persons.
On a calendar month basis, the number of employees rose by 172,000 individuals (+0.4%) in September 2026 compared to August 2026, benefiting from the start of the autumn season. This seasonal increase was similar to the average September increase recorded between 2023 and 2025 (+170,000 persons). Unfortunately, compared to the same month last year, the number of employees fell by 211,000 persons (-0.5%) in September 2026. This confirms the downward trend observed in the labor market on a year-over-year basis since January 2025. In the earlier months of 2026, the change year-over-year was at -0.4% from January to April, and at -0.5% from May to August.
Shifting focus to the third quarter of 2026, preliminary data showed that the average number of employed individuals working in Germany was about 45.67 million. When comparing this quarter to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted figure showed a drop of 57,000 persons (-0.1%).
Regarding unemployment, the labor force survey reported that 1.79 million people were unemployed in September 2026. This represented a decrease of 6,000 persons (0.3%) compared to September 2025. Consequently, the official unemployment rate was 4.1%, which is slightly higher than the previous year’s rate (4.0% in September 2025). When excluding seasonal and irregular effects, the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed persons was 1.77 million in September 2026. This figure saw an increase of 7,000 persons (0.4%) compared to August 2026, while the adjusted unemployment rate remained stable at 4.1%.
