Skip page header and navigation

Germany’s temporary employment down, unemployment rate up

Germany’s temporary employment down, unemployment rate up

Danny Romero
| February 4, 2025

main article

The number of workers in temporary employment across Germany fell by 12.0% in November 2024 when compared to November 2023, according to data from the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit or ‘BA’).

When compared to October 2024, the number of temporary workers fell by 1.25% to a total of 605,100

The Agency published figures (in German) for employees subject to social insurance contributions in the temporary employment sector in November 2024.

Further labour market figures showed that unemployment rose by 186,000 to 2,993,000 in January 2025. Compared to January of the previous year, the number of unemployed is 187,000 higher. The unemployment rate rose month-on-month by 0.4% to 6.4%. Compared to the same month last year, the rate increased by 0.3%.

Underemployment, which includes unemployment, labour market policy and short-term incapacity to work, rose by 6,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous month. It stood at 3,714,000 in January 2025, 107,000 more than a year ago.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of employed persons (according to the domestic concept) rose by 4,000 in December 2024 compared to the previous month, adjusted for seasonal factors. At 46.17 million people, it fell by 26,000 compared to the previous year.

Employment subject to social insurance contributions in Germany fell by 5,000 from October to November 2024 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to projections from the BA. Despite this slight month-on-month decline, the overall number of employees increased by 94,000 compared to the previous year, reaching 35.22 million in November. The annual growth was driven solely by workers from third countries, the data showed.

In January, 632,000 jobs were reported to the BA, 66,000 fewer than a year ago. The BA job index (BA-X) - an indicator of the demand for personnel in Germany, which takes into account not only the number of reported jobs but also new jobs - remained unchanged at 106 points in January 2025. Compared to the same month last year, the BA-X recorded a decrease of 9 points.