Annual balance sheet
Unemployment increased in 2024 – rate in one federal state over ten percent
Rising unemployment and short-time work, falling demand for workers – the economic downturn will leave its mark on the labor market in 2024.
The unemployment rate in Germany rose to 6.0 percent last year. That was an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2023, as the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced on Friday in Nuremberg. The economic stagnation has “left increasingly deeper marks on the labor market,” explained BA boss Andrea Nahles.
Bavaria has the lowest unemployment rate, Bremen the highest
According to the information, the number of unemployed rose by an annual average of 178,000 to a total of 2.787 million. Short-time work also increased: According to BA estimates, the number of short-time workers rose from 241,000 in 2023 to around 320,000 in 2024.
When it comes to the unemployment rate in 2024, there are big differences between the federal states. The lowest was reported from Bavaria, the highest from the city states of Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen.
| Federal State | ⌀ Unemployment rate 2024 |
| Bavaria | 3.7 |
| Baden-Württemberg | 4.2 |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 5.3 |
| Hesse | 5.5 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 5.7 |
| Lower Saxony | 5.9 |
| Brandenburg | 6.1 |
| Thuringia | 6.2 |
| Saxony | 6.5 |
| Saarland | 7.0 |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 7.5 |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 7.7 |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 7.9 |
| Hamburg | 8.0 |
| Berlin | 9.7 |
| Bremen | 11.1 |
In December 2024, the number of unemployed increased by 33,000 to 2.807 million, as the BA announced. As in the year as a whole, the rate was 6.0 percent – an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month of November. The winter break on the labor market begins in December, and the increase in unemployment is usual in the month, explained Nahles.
Sources: news agencies DPA and AFP
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Source: Stern
