Press release No.236 / 2008-07-01

Employment growth slowing down

WIESBADEN – As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the basis of first calculations for May 2008, the number of persons in employment whose place of residence was in Germanyamounted to 40.19 million. That was an increase by 619,000 persons (+1.6%) on May 2007. Compared with April 2008, the number of persons in employment rose by 111,000 (+0.3%) in May 2008.

The positive employment trend thus continued, although it slowed down a little compared with the previous months. From January to March this year, the number of persons in employment each month was by 1.8% higher than in the corresponding month of the previous year, while in April 2008 the increase was 1.6% on April 2007. At this point in time, however, it is not possible yet to say whether that trend can be considered as a general slowdown on the labour market. At least part of the slowdown can probably be explained by the fact that the winter months had been unusually employment-friendly because of the mild weather, so that the usual upturn in spring was smaller.

In May 2008, the number of persons in employment in Germanyamounted to 40.24 million after seasonal adjustment, that is after elimination of the typical seasonal variations. That was a slight seasonally adjusted increase by 4,000 persons on April 2008.

Based on the labour force survey, Destatis determined a seasonally adjusted 3.22 million unemployed for May 2008. That figure, which is a provisional estimate, was calculated according to the concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Compared with the same month a year earlier (May 2007), the number of unemployed was down by 440,000 persons or 12.2%. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate – which is harmonised across the EU and measured as the share of unemployed in the total labour force – amounted to 7.4% in Germany and was thus substantially below the level of the corresponding month of the previous year (8.5%).

More results, including among others the original unemployment data which have not been seasonally adjusted, can be accessed on the Internet. Here, you will also find detailed methodological notes on the ILO labour market statistics, the labour force survey and the microcensus.

For further information please contact:
For “employment”:
Christoph-Martin Mai,
tel: (+49-611) 75-3378,

For “unemployment”:
Thomas Körner,
tel: (+49-611) 75-4413,

E-mail: arbeitsmarkt@destatis.de

Persons in employment whose place of residence is in Germany ¹⁾
Year	Month	Original values			Seasonally adjusted ²⁾
Year	Month	persons	change on previous month	change on the same month of the previous year	persons	change on previous month
1) Results of employment accounts as part of national accounting: persons in employment whose place of residence is in Germany (resident concept). The respective time series for persons in employment whose place of work is in Germany (domestic concept) are presented on the Internet. 2) Seasonal adjustment by Census-X12-Arima.
		in million	in %		in million	in %
2007	April	39.431	0.5	1.9	39.586	0.2
	May	39.573	0.4	1.7	39.623	0.1
	June	39.618	0.1	1.5	39.639	0.0
	July	39.585	–0.1	1.5	39.681	0.1
	August	39.704	0.3	1.6	39.741	0.2
	September	40.044	0.9	1.7	39.791	0.1
	October	40.293	0.6	1.8	39.870	0.2
	November	40.377	0.2	1.8	39.933	0.2
	December	40.250	–0.3	1.8	40.002	0.2
2008	January	39.729	–1.3	1.8	40.089	0.2
	February	39.785	0.1	1.8	40.152	0.2
	March	39.928	0.4	1.8	40.213	0.2
	April	40.081	0.4	1.6	40.238	0.1
	May	40.192	0.3	1.6	40.242	0.0

Unemployed persons whose place of residence is in Germany– seasonally adjusted results ³⁾
Unemployed	May 2008	Previous month		Same month of previous year
Unemployed	May 2008	April 2008	change	May 2007	Change
³⁾ Estimated seasonally adjusted unemployment data based on the labour force survey. Please note the methodical explanations. Provisional results. ⁴⁾ Share of unemployed persons in the total labour force (persons in employment and unemployed) according to the European definition: Persons in employment and unemployed persons in households from 15 years of age or from 15 to 74 years (unemployed) as well as persons in employment excluding persons doing compulsory military service and conscripts on compulsory community service. Sub-groups defined accordingly.
Persons	in million		in %	in million	in %
Total	3.22	3.21	0.2	3.66	–12.2
Men	1.74	1.72	0.8	1.97	–11.7
Woman	1.48	1.49	–0.6	1.70	–12.6
15 to 24-year olds	0.52	0.51	0.6	0.58	–11.0
25 to 74-year olds	2.70	2.70	0.1	3.08	–12.3
Unemployment rate ⁴⁾	Shares in %		in %	Shares in %	in %
Total	7.4	7.4	0.1	8.5	–12.5
Men	7.5	7.5	0.7	8.6	–12.1
Woman	7.4	7.4	–0.5	8.5	–13.0
15 to 24-year olds	9.9	9.8	0.4	11.1	–10.8
25 to 74-year olds	7.1	7.1	0.1	8.2	–12.8

For more details please refer to the German version.

Contact:
tel: (+49-611)75-3444
fax: (+49-611)75-3976
presse@destatis.de
www.destatis.de

Service hours:
Mon - Tue: 8am - 5pm
Fri: 8am - 3pm
CET / CEST

Postal address:
65180 Wiesbaden
Germany

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