Berlin-Brandenburg labor market: stagnation despite a lack of training!

Berlin-Brandenburg labor market: stagnation despite a lack of training!

In Berlin and Brandenburg there are hardly any changes to report in the current labor market situation. The latest figures show that the number of unemployed people in both federal states remains almost stable. In Berlin, 218,496 people are currently registered as unemployed, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent. Compared to the previous year, the rate increased by 9.5 percent, reports rbb24. In Brandenburg, however, the situation is slightly better: 85,236 people are unemployed here, which represents a decrease of 649 people compared to the previous month. The unemployment rate there is 6.3 percent, which has also increased slightly compared to the previous year, when it was 5.9 percent.

Christian Henkes from the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency said that the weak economy is severely affecting the creation of new jobs. Despite this, many jobs remain unfilled, particularly in sectors such as manufacturing, trade, services, and health and social care. There is also great potential for job vacancies in the construction industry. In Brandenburg, training companies in particular are looking for active supplies, because there are still 6,200 training places unfilled, while at the same time 5,700 young people are without an apprenticeship.

Looking back on the last few years

The Brandenburg labor market has proven to be relatively stable over the past five years, despite the challenges in recent years. While unemployment fell continuously from 2003 to 2019, a decline occurred in 2020 due to the corona pandemic. In the following years, especially between 2020 and 2022, the number of unemployed rose by 7.7 percent to 82,795 people, and the unemployment rate reached a moderate increase of 6.1 percent in 2024. This increased by 0.2 percentage points compared to 2023 and is therefore above the national average of 6.0 percent, as can be read on mwaek.brandenburg.de.

The regional differences in the unemployment rate within Brandenburg are striking. While the rate in the Dahme-Spreewald district is only 3.8 percent, the Uckermark struggles with a rate of 11.2 percent. Potsdam has the lowest rate at 5.7 percent, while Brandenburg an der Havel has the highest at 9.1 percent.

Current developments and outlook

Employment subject to social security contributions in Brandenburg reached 891,700 in October 2024, the best level in two years. According to currently available data, employment growth in Brandenburg is higher than in eastern Germany, but remains behind the national value. The average employment subject to social insurance contributions as of June 30, 2025 was 881,641 people, 3.9 percent above the 2020 level, which represents a slight ray of hope, although the increase was slower than between 2015 and 2019, as the Federal Agency for Work.

Against this background, it is clear that Brandenburg continues to face challenges, but the stable labor market indicators offer room for hope for positive developments in the future.