German unemployment topped three million in August for the first time in over a decade, official data showed Friday, in another blow to Europe’s struggling top economy.
The unemployment figure rose by 46,000 month-on-month to hit 3.025 million, according to Germany’s Federal Employment Agency, the highest level since February 2015.
The country’s overall unemployment rate ticked up to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent in July.
Andrea Nahles, head of the employment agency, said the data reflected weakness among Germany’s manufacturers.
“That is an important motor for the Germany economy,” she said, but added the sector was currently “weakening”.
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Battered by high energy costs and increasingly fierce Chinese competition, German manufacturers were struggling even before US President Donald Trump erected new tariff walls.
Over 110,000 jobs have been lost in German industry in the past year alone, a report released Tuesday by consultancy EY said, with about 50,000 of them coming from the car industry.
“It is crucial that we see signs of life from the economy,” Nahles said.
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The figures will pile pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has made fixing the economy a top priority.
“These numbers need to be politicians’ wake-up call,” said Thilo Brodtman, head of the VDMA machine-makers’ association. “Costs need to go down and rigid rules need to be loosened.”
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Pointing to plans to spend hundreds of billions on creaking infrastructure in the coming years, Labour Minister Bärbel Bas said the government “stood on the side of employees and industry”.
“Security and strong incentives for investment and employment are needed to generate economic growth again and bring momentum to the labour market,” she said.
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According to the BA’s detailed monthly report on the labour market, however, an increase in unemployment in August is “normal.” Seasonally adjusted, the number of unemployed in August actually fell by 9,000 compared to the previous month of July 2025.
Economist Stephanie Schoenwald of KfW Research pointed out that the rise in unemployment in August was “mainly seasonal”.
With the expected upturn in the coming year, “the chances of an improvement in the labour market situation are also good,” she added.
