Number of employees in Germany increased
Despite the persistent economic downturn, the number of employed persons in Germany is rising. In the second quarter, around 46.1 million people were gainfully employed, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Friday. Adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, this is an increase of 54,000 or 0.1 percent compared to the first quarter. However, the growth rate is slowing down: in the first three months, it was still plus 64,000 persons.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of employed persons even increased by 249,000 or 0.5 percent in the spring. "An increase in employment in the second quarter of a year is usually seasonally typical due to the general upturn in outdoor professions in the spring," the statisticians explained. However, the spring upturn was less pronounced than the average of the years 2022 and 2023 with plus 295,000.
Especially service providers expanded their staff from April to June: Here, there was an increase of 229,000 or 0.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023. Alone in the area of public services, education, health, the increase was 199,000 employed persons (+1.7 percent). "Thus, the overall economic employment gain can ultimately be almost entirely attributed to this area," it was stated.
In the financial and insurance services, the number of employees increased by 13,000 (+1.2 percent), followed by information and communication with 10,000 (+0.6 percent). However, there was a minimal decrease of 1,000 persons in the area of trade, transport, and hospitality for the first time since the third quarter of 2021 and the subsequent catch-up process after the corona pandemic.
The downward trend in the manufacturing sector continued in the spring. Here, a decrease of 44,000 or 0.5 percent was reported. In the construction sector, employment decreased by 21,000 persons (-0.8 percent). However, it increased by 3,000 persons (+0.5 percent) in the agriculture and forestry, fisheries sector.
Despite Germany's continued economic challenges, the country's leading competitor in Europe, France, reported a decrease in employment in the second quarter. Contrastingly, Germany managed to maintain its employment growth, with around 46.1 million people employed, as mentioned earlier.
