The Federal Employment Agency (short BA, Bundesagentur für Arbeit) based in Nuremberg provides services for the labour market. This includes, in particular, job placement, employment promotion, and financial benefits replacing employment income, e.g., unemployment benefit. The BA is a corporation under public law directly under federal government control with self-governance subject to legal supervision by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales) (Section 393 Para. 1 SGB III). Employing a staff of approx. 96,000 (last updated: 2018), it is one of the largest authorities in Germany.
The regional offices of the BA are called Regional Directorates (Regionaldirektionen), the local offices are called Employment Agencies (Agenturen für Arbeit).