Labor market Sharp rise in unemployment in Germany in January

The number of unemployed people in Germany rose sharply by 186,000 in January compared to the previous month. However, at 2.993 million, the figure remains below the three million mark.

Keystone-SDA

31.01.2025, 10:14

31.01.2025, 10:58

SDA

There are 187,000 more unemployed people than in January 2024. The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 points month-on-month to 6.4 percent, the Federal Employment Agency announced in Nuremberg on Friday.

The sharp rise in January is typical for the time of year, as many temporary employment contracts end at the end of the year and weather-dependent jobs, such as in construction, are lost at the same time. A stable trend is then often observed in February, before the first spring recovery could begin in March. For its January statistics, the Federal Agency used data that was available until January 15.

"At the beginning of the year, unemployment and underemployment increased significantly, as is usual in this month," said Andrea Nahles, Chairwoman of the Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg. "Although employment growth is continuing, it is increasingly losing momentum," she emphasized.

Increase in short-time work

Short-time work has recently increased significantly. According to projections by the Federal Agency, 293,000 employees were paid cyclical short-time working benefits in November. This compares to 263,000 in October and 221,000 in September. More up-to-date data is not reliably available.

From January 1 to 27 inclusive, companies reported short-time work for 54,000 people - but it is not yet known whether this will actually be taken up.

Meanwhile, the demand for labor continues to decline. In January, 632,000 vacancies were registered with the Federal Employment Agency. That is 66,000 fewer than a year ago.

According to the figures, 33,000 applicants for company-based apprenticeships were still unplaced in the training market in January, while 20,000 were looking for a better alternative. At the same time, 15,000 training places were still unfilled.