The number of unemployed people in Hamburg rose to 97,264 in January, the local employment agency reported. This is the highest January figure since 2006, when 101,878 were jobless. Compared with December, the count increased by 4,683, or 5.1 percent, and relative to January 2024 it was up 4,132 people, a 4.4 percent rise. The unemployment rate climbed to 8.6 percent.
Despite the increase, Hamburg continues to enjoy record employment. In November 2025, 1,097,400 residents were employed in jobs that require social‑insurance contributions, the largest number ever. Nationally, the trend is negative; the agency attributes the rise in unemployment to a difficult economic climate, population growth, and the attractiveness of Hamburg’s labour market for applicants from the metropolitan area and abroad.
The largest gains in unemployment were among those under 25 (up 17.3 percent), academics (up 9.9 percent), and long‑term unemployed (up 9.4 percent). At the same time, almost 5,000 previously unemployed Hamburgers ended their unemployment in January by taking new jobs – a 14 percent jump from the previous year. The number of reported open positions fell to 14,077, down 14.3 percent year‑on‑year.
