Fewer people were in employment in Germany in the first quarter of this year than before, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday.
The number of people in employment fell by 486,000 people or 1.1% compared with the previous quarter to 45.6 million. Adjusted for seasonal effects that are typical at the start of the year there was still a decline of 61,000 people or 0.1%.
The decline continues a negative trend recorded since summer 2025. Employment also fell year-on-year standing 0.3% below the 2025 level.
Industrial and construction jobs lacking
Job cuts hit manufacturing (-2.1%) and construction (-1.1%) particularly hard. These losses were offset by only small gains in services where employment rose by 45,000 people or 0.1%. The public services, education and health sector alone grew sharply by 181,000 jobs (+1.5%).
Across the economy, the number of employees subject to social security contributions fell by 120,000 or 0.3% to 42 million while the number of self-employed people fell by 37,000 or 1.0% to 3.6 million. Total hours worked across the economy remained unchanged at 15.7 billion hours with fewer people working slightly longer.
In the eurozone, employment rose by 0.5% over the same period and by 0.6% across the European Union as a whole. Germany is therefore developing more weakly than the European average.
