Overview

• Registered unemployment fell by 70,000 from August to 2.955 million, putting the rate at 6.3% but leaving the total 148,000 higher than a year earlier, according to the Federal Employment Agency.
• Employer demand softened further, with 630,000 vacancies reported in September, down 66,000 year on year, and BA chief Andrea Nahles calling the improvement largely seasonal.
• Short-time work signals remained steady: companies notified Kurzarbeit for 36,000 people between September 1–24, and 199,000 employees received Kurzarbeitergeld in July on preliminary data.
• Separate Destatis figures show August employment roughly flat at about 45.8 million, with ILO unemployment at 1.79 million and a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 3.7%.
• Regional data point to uneven conditions: North Rhine-Westphalia’s unemployed fell by about 21,600 to roughly 782,200, Bavaria saw only a slight dip with weak new job postings, and eastern states reported higher joblessness than a year ago.