Germany’s unemployment rate fell by 0.1% to 4.9% in September when compared to the previous year, according to data from the Federal Employment Agency.

Compared to the previous year, a total of 22,000 fewer people were registered as unemployed with the number of unemployed totalling 2.23 million in September.

Unemployment fell by 85,000 when comparing August to September with the rate falling by 0.2%.

According to the Agency, this fall in unemployment is typical during the season.

Employment and employment subject to social security continued to increase, but not as strongly as last year.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the seasonally adjusted number of employed persons increased by 10,000 in August compared with the previous month. With 45.30 million people in September, it was 333,000 higher than in the previous year.

The driver for this was the increase in employment subject to social security contributions. This increased by 510,000 compared to the previous year.

According to projected data from the Agency, a total of 33.35 million people were employed who were subject to social security in July. Seasonally adjusted, this is an increase of 46,000 from June to July.

Meanwhile, the demand for new employees is on a high level, but continues to decline, according to the Agency.

In September, 787,000 jobs were registered with the Agency, 47,000 fewer than a year ago. Seasonally adjusted, the number of jobs reported to the Agency decreased by 9,000 jobs.

"The economic downturn is also reflected in the labour market in September,” Federal Employment Agency CEO Detlef Scheele said. “All in all, the job market is still in a robust condition. Unemployment and underemployment decreased in September. Employment growth is continuing, but it is losing momentum, and companies' demand for new employees has repeatedly declined at a high level.”