Employment in July 2026 down slightly on the previous month after seasonal adjustment

Press release No. 310 of 28 August 2026

Persons in employment resident in Germany, July 2026
0.0% on the previous month (seasonally adjusted)
-0.1% on the previous month (not seasonally adjusted)
-0.5% on the same month a year earlier

WIESBADEN – Roughly 45.48 million persons resident in Germany (national concept) were in employment in July 2026. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office ( Destatis ), the seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment therefore fell slightly by 13,000 (0.0%) compared with the previous month. In the period from January to June 2026, employment decreased by an average of 19,000 people month on month.

Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment in July 2026 was down by 60,000 (-0.1%) compared with June 2026. In the July average for the years 2023 to 2025, employment decreased by 52,000 people (-0.1%) compared with the previous month.

Year-on-year decline in employment continues

Compared with July 2025, the number of persons in employment in July 2026 fell significantly by 223,000 (-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 May and June 2026.

Adjusted unemployment rate at 4.0% in July 2026

According to results of the labour force survey, 1.84 million people were unemployed in July 2026. This was an increase of 149,000 people, or 8.8%, on July 2025. At 4.2%, the unemployment rate was higher than a year earlier (July 2025: 3.9%).

Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.74 million in July 2026, an increase of 11,000, or 0.6%, compared with June 2026. Compared with the previous month, the adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.0%.

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.

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) (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.

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