“December marks the beginning of the winter break in the labour market. Therefore, both unemployment and underemployment increased in December, which is normal for this month,” explained Andrea Nahles, Chair of the Executive Board of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), at today’s monthly press conference in Nuremberg.
Unemployment rate in December:
+33,000 to 2,807,000
Number of unemployed persons compared with the same time last year:
+170,000
Unemployment rate compared with the previous month:
+0.1 percentage points to 6.0 percent
Unemployment, underemployment and economic inactivity
With the onset of the winter break, unemployment rose by 33,000 to reach 2,807,000 in December 2024. The seasonally-adjusted number of unemployed persons increased by 10,000 compared with the previous month. Compared with December last year, there were 170,000 more unemployed persons. The unemployment rate increased by approximately 0.1 percentage points, amounting to 6.0 percent. Compared with the same month last year, the rate had increased by 0.3 percentage points. The rate of unemployment in November, as determined by the Federal Statistical Office according to the labour force concept of the ILO, was 3.3 percent.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, underemployment, which along with unemployment also includes short-term incapacity to work, increased by 5,000 compared with the previous month. In December 2024, total underemployment was 3,581,000, which is 103,000 more than one year ago.
Short-time work
Before the start of short-time work, companies are required to submit a notification regarding the expected loss of work. According to the current data, short-time work due to market conditions was reported for 55,000 people from 1st until 26th December.
The latest data on the actual take-up is available until October 2024. According to preliminary extrapolated data from the Federal Employment Agency, the cyclical short-time allowance was paid for 287,000 employees in this month, after 225,000 in September and 165,000 in August.
Economic activity and employment
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the seasonally adjusted number of economically active people (according to the domestic concept) increased by 23,000 in November 2024 compared with the previous month. At 46.32 million, it remained unchanged compared with the previous year. According to the projections of the BA, seasonally adjusted employment subject to social security contributions increased by 15,000 from September to October 2024. In comparison with the previous year, employment subject to social security contributions increased by 117,000 to 35.23 million in October, with the increase solely accounted for by foreign citizens. In October 2024, 7.64 million people were in marginal “mini job” employment, 32,000 more than in the same month last year. Of this total, for 4.14 million people, this low-paid employment was their only job, while for 3.50 million, it was just a side job.
The demand for labour
In December, 654,000 job vacancies were registered with the BA, 59,000 fewer than one year ago. The BA Jobs Index (BA X) – an indicator for the demand for staff in Germany which also takes the number of registered jobs and new jobs into account – remained unchanged in December 2024 at 106 points. Compared with the same month last year, the BA-X recorded a fall of 9 points.
Cash benefits for unemployment and persons requiring support
In December 2024, 924,000 people received Unemployment Benefit, 91,000 more than a year ago. The total number of people able to work and entitled to Citizen’s Benefit in December was 3,962,000. In comparison with December 2023, this was an increase of 34,000 people. This means that 7.2 percent of people of working age living in Germany were in need of support.