Press release No. 380 of 30 October 2026

Persons in employment resident in Germany, September 2026
0.0% on the previous month (seasonally adjusted)
+0.4% on the previous month (not seasonally adjusted)
-0.5% on the same month a year earlier

WIESBADEN – Roughly 45.60 million persons resident in Germany (national concept) were in employment in September 2026, according to results of the employment accounts. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment therefore remained virtually unchanged (-4,000; 0.0%) compared with the previous month. In the period from January to August 2026, employment decreased by an average of 19,000 people month on month.

Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment in September 2026 rose by 172,000 (+0.4%) on August 2026 due to the autumn upturn. The usual seasonal increase in employment was therefore roughly the same as the average September increase for the years 2023 to 2025 (+170,000 people).

Year-on-year decline in employment continues

Compared with September 2025, the number of persons in employment in September 2026 was down by 211,000 (-0.5%). The downward trend in the year-on-year labour market figures, which has been observed since January 2025, therefore continued. Compared with the same month a year earlier, the rate of change was ‑0.4% in the months from January to April 2026, and stood at -0.5% in the months from May to August 2026.

Employment in 3rd quarter of 2026 down 0.1% on previous quarter after seasonal adjustment

According to provisional calculations, the number of persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany (domestic concept) averaged roughly 45.67 million in the 3rd quarter of 2026. Following seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment was down by 57,000 (-0.1%) from the previous quarter. Detailed results for the third quarter of 2026 will be released on 18 November 2026.

Adjusted unemployment rate at 4.1% in September 2026

According to results of the labour force survey, 1.79 million people were unemployed in September 2026. This represented a decrease of 6,000, or 0.3%, compared with September 2025. At 4.1%, the unemployment rate was slightly higher than a year earlier (September 2025: 4.0%).

Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.77 million in September 2026, an increase of 7,000, or 0.4%, compared with August 2026. The adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous month at 4.1%.

Methodological notes:

The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on seasonally adjusted comparisons with the previous month or quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. Year-on-year comparisons, by contrast, enable long-term comparisons of levels and are largely unaffected by seasonal fluctuations.

Seasonally adjusted figures facilitate comparisons across consecutive months, without regular seasonal effects, such as typical seasonal weather conditions, distorting the overall picture. By contrast, results that have not been seasonally adjusted present the actual development in the reference month.

Monthly employment results are based on the national concept, which counts persons in employment who are resident in Germany, regardless of whether they work in Germany or abroad.

The figures on employment and unemployment presented in this press release come from different statistical sources. The employment figures are derived from the results of the employment accounts, while the figures on unemployment are based on the labour force survey, which is incorporated into the microcensus. Any differences can primarily be attributed to the methods and procedures applied in the statistics and, to some extent, to differing definitions and delimitations. Background information on this is available in the explanatory notes (only in German) on the relevant statistics.

Persons in employment and unemployed persons are counted according to the employment status concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO). According to this concept, persons in employment are all persons who worked for pay or in a self-employed capacity for at least one hour in the reference period. Unemployed persons are defined as those who are not in employment, are actively seeking employment and are currently available for work. Therefore, the unemployment figures shown here differ from registered unemployment as determined and published by the Federal Employment Agency in accordance with the German Social Code. In the European Statistical System, the results of the labour force surveys are used as a standard basis for calculating unemployment rates.

Recalculation of provisional monthly and quarterly results from January 2026 to August 2026

When the number of persons in employment was first calculated for the reference month of September 2026, the provisional monthly and quarterly employment results for 2026 were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounting results. For this purpose, all additional sources of employment statistics that had become available by the time of calculation were taken into account. Despite adjustments to the absolute levels, the recalculation has not changed the year-on-year change rates published to date for the monthly employment figures.

More information:

A table containing monthly results on the number of persons in employment (unadjusted values and seasonally adjusted values) from the employment accounts is shown on the "Employment" page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website. Tables with unemployment results (only in German) from the labour force survey including the unemployment rate are also available on this page. Detailed data and long time series are provided in the GENESIS-Online database. Data on persons in employment from the employment accounts are available in tables 13321-0001 (months), 13321-0002 (quarters) and 81000-0011 (years). Monthly data on persons in employment and unemployed persons from the labour force survey can be found in tables 13231-0001 (overview), 13231-0002 (unemployed persons, persons in employment and economically active population) and 13231-0003 (unemployment rates).

Labour market results can also be found on the "Economic Dashboard" (www.dashboard-konjunktur.de/konjunktur/Arbeitsmarkt) (only in German). In this data portal, the Federal Statistical Office brings together high-frequency indicators from official statistics producers and other data providers on the topics of the economy, finance, the labour market, construction and energy.

A special webpage of the Federal Statistical Office combines facts and figures on the subject of skilled labour www.destatis.de/fachkraefte) (only in German). It provides data on demography, employment, education and immigration. The information offered ranges from projections of the future size of the labour force to analyses of the labour supply and data on labour migration and the vocational training market. New information is added continually.