Overview
- Federal Employment Agency data show 2.908 million unemployed in December 2025, up 23,000 from November and about 101,000 higher than a year earlier, for a 6.2 percent rate.
- BA’s annual review reports an average of 2.95 million unemployed in 2025 and just 632,000 advertised jobs on average, which the agency calls a historic low for new postings.
- Unemployment among university graduates rose by roughly 16 percent to around 335,000 in 2025, even as employer surveys and IW analysis point to the strongest demand for vocationally trained staff.
- Regional strain is intensifying, with North Rhine‑Westphalia at 767,000 unemployed in December and officials cautioning the total could exceed 800,000 by February; Berlin recorded 216,327 jobseekers against only 19,925 vacancies.
- Sectoral and age patterns are worsening, with manufacturing shedding jobs (about 2,200 lost year on year in the Göttingen district) and youth unemployment rising in several areas such as Saxony and Kassel.