Press release No.001 / 2008-01-02

2007: number of persons in employment climbing to a peak

WIESBADEN – According to first provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany amounted to about 39.7 million on an annual average in 2007. That was an increase of 649,000 persons or 1.7% on a year earlier. The increase in employment which started in 2006 (+242,000 persons or +0.6% on 2005) hence continued on a larger scale in 2007. The average number of persons in employment reached its highest level since German reunification in 2007.

The continuing favourable economic situation contributed in particular to the positive employment trend in 2007. In addition, the very mild weather in early 2007 and the seasonal short-time working allowance introduced in late 2006 played a role in this respect.

The average increase in employment in 2007 was especially due to the number of employees rising strongly by 595,000 persons (+1.7%) to just under 35.3 million compared to the previous year. Hence their number was only slightly smaller than the all-time high observed in 2001 (a good 35.3 million). The positive effects of economic recovery above all had an impact on jobs fully subject to social insurance contributions. However, the number of self-employed including family workers continued to rise, too. Their number increased by 54,000 (+1.2%) to about 4.4 million persons compared to a year earlier.

In 2007, the positive average year-on-year trend in employment covered almost all industries for the first time since German reunification. Employment saw a rise in construction (+40,000 persons or +1.9%), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (+9,000 persons or +1.1%) and in industry, including energy (+96,000 persons or +1.2%). Construction had recorded year-on-year declines in employment in the preceding eleven years, while agriculture, forestry and fisheries had seen such decreases in the preceding eight years and industry, including energy in the preceding five years. The positive trend observed in the service industries in 2006 became even more marked. Here, the number of persons in employment increased by 504,000 (+1.8%).

Despite the positive employment trends observed in the primary and secondary sectors, structural change, which had begun several years ago, continued in the different industries. The share of persons employed in the service sector in relation to total employment rose to 72.4%. In 1991, their share amounted to not more than 59.5%. The related share of the secondary sector – industry (including construction) – shrank to 25.4% (1991: 36.6%), while the share of the primary sector was down to 2.1% (1991: 3.9%).

The current national accounts data on employment by quarters and years are available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office at www.destatis.de, path: Labour market --> Persons in Employment --> Tables

Brief methodological description

Persons in employment whose place of employment is in Germany, by industry ¹⁾
Year	Persons in employment, total	Agriculture, forestry and fishing	Industry, including energy	Construction	Service activities ²⁾
¹⁾ Annual averages. ²⁾Trade and transport; financial, renting and business activities; other service activities.
Persons in 1,000
2001	39,316	925	8,544	2,598	27,249
2002	39,096	904	8,355	2,439	27,398
2003	38,726	880	8,140	2,322	27,384
2004	38,880	873	8,020	2,254	27,733
2005	38,846	850	7,884	2,165	27,947
2006	39,088	841	7,809	2,159	28,279
2007	39,737	850	7,905	2,199	28,783
Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year
2001	0.4	–1.2	0.1	–6.2	1.3
2002	–0.6	–2.3	–2.2	–6.1	0.5
2003	–0.9	–2.7	–2.6	–4.8	–0.1
2004	0.4	–0.8	–1.5	–2.9	1.3
2005	–0.1	–2.6	–1.7	–3.9	0.8
2006	0.6	–1.1	–1.0	–0.3	1.2
2007	1.7	1.1	1.2	1.9	1.8
Shares of industries in the total of persons in employment in %
1991	100	3.9	29.3	7.3	59.5
2001	100	2.4	21.7	6.6	69.3
2002	100	2.3	21.4	6.2	70.1
2003	100	2.3	21.0	6.0	70.7
2004	100	2.2	20.6	5.8	71.3
2005	100	2.2	20.3	5.6	71.9
2006	100	2.2	20.0	5.5	72.3
2007	100	2.1	19.9	5.5	72.4

For further information please call:
Michael Braig,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2932,

E-mail: arbeitsmarkt@destatis.de

For more details please refer to the German version.

Publisher:
© Federal Statistical Office of Germany
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