According to the employment accounting results, approximately 45.41 million resident persons in Germany (domestic concept) were employed in August 2026. Preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) shows a slight decline in employment figures. Seasonally adjusted, the number of employed people decreased by 29,000 persons, or 0.1%, compared to the previous month. Furthermore, the average decline observed from January through July 2026 was a drop of 20,000 individuals each month.
When the data was not seasonally adjusted, the decline in August 2026 was more significant, falling by 69,000 persons (-0.2%) compared to July 2026. This drop also surpassed the average monthly decrease for August in previous years (2023-2025), which was 38,000 people (-0.1%).
Comparing August 2026 to August of the previous year, employment saw a reduction of 235,000 people (-0.5%). This confirms the downward trend in year-over-year labor market changes that has been evident since January 2025. Throughout the period from January to April 2026, the rate of change compared to the previous year was -0.4%, while in May, June, and July 2026, the rate stood at -0.5%.
In terms of unemployment, the labor force survey reported that 1.86 million people were jobless in August 2026. This figure represents an increase of 120,000 people, or 6.9%, compared to August 2025. Consequently, the unemployment rate was 4.3%, higher than the previous year’s rate of 3.9%. When seasonality and irregular factors were removed, the count of unemployed persons in August 2026 was 1.76 million-a minor increase of 9,000 people or 0.5% from July 2026. The adjusted unemployment rate remained static compared to the previous month at 4.0%, a level that, according to the Federal Office, was last seen in June 2016.
