German unemployment falls to 2.99 million in September, but a weak autumn upturn lifts the adjusted count by 12,000

Germany's Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) published its September labour market report on 30 September 2026. Registered unemployment fell by 67,000, or 2%, to 2,994,000, which is the kind of decline the autumn normally brings. This year's was weaker than usual, so after seasonal adjustment the count rose by 12,000.

The main figures

• Registered unemployed: 2,994,000, down 67,000 on August before seasonal adjustment and 40,000 above September 2025
• Seasonally adjusted change: +12,000. The agency says the slight but persistent upward trend continues
• Unemployment rate: 6.4% on the basis of all civilian workers, 0.1 point higher than a year earlier, and 6.4% seasonally adjusted
• Underemployment (which excludes short-time work and is not distorted by labour market policy): down 7,000 seasonally adjusted, and 25,000 above a year earlier
• Registered vacancies: 660,000, which is 30,000 more than a year ago, with the seasonally adjusted figure largely flat over the past six months
• Benefit recipients: about 1,082,000 people received unemployment benefit and 3,704,000 received basic income support for jobseekers in September, according to the agency's provisional projection

The agency described the autumn upturn as beginning "without momentum" and said the economic improvement is not yet noticeable in the labour market. Germany's GDP grew 0.3% in the second quarter, driven by exports and government demand, and the BA expects the recovery to have continued in the third quarter, more weakly than before. It also reported that payroll employment subject to social insurance fell in July.

Two measures of German unemployment

The BA counts people registered as unemployed. Eurostat uses the International Labour Organization definition, which put Germany at 4.0% in August (report). Both are correct; they measure different things, which is why German headlines can quote 6.4% and 4.0% in the same week.

What it means for the euro

The softer labour market sits next to higher prices: Destatis's provisional September inflation was 3.3% with core at 2.4% (report). That combination, weak jobs and firm inflation, is the one the European Central Bank has to weigh when it decides on 29 October. The BA's next report, for October, comes on 30 October.