Press release No.165 / 2009-04-30

March 2009: Fewer persons in employment than a year earlier for the first time since February 2006

WIESBADEN – The number of persons in employment in Germanyin March 2009 was smaller than in the same month a year earlier for the first time in a long time. As shown by provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment living in Germanyamounted to 39.89 million in that month. That was a decrease by 46,000 persons (–0.1%) on a year earlier. The last time the number of persons in employment decreased from the same month a year earlier was in February 2006.

Generally, the number of persons in employment increases in March due to the usual recovery in spring. In the past three years, employment was up by an average 138,000 persons from the relevant previous month. This March, the increase was considerably smaller. Compared with February 2009, the number of persons in employment was up by 53,000 (+0.1%) in March. The extension of short-time work probably moderated the negative influence of the current economic situation on the employment trend.

When seasonally adjusted, that is when eliminating the typical seasonal variations, the number of persons in employment in Germanywas 40.18 million in March 2009. That was a seasonally adjusted decrease by 27,000 persons (–0.1%) on February.

Beyond the first calculation of the number of persons in employment for reference month March 2009, the monthly results on employment published previously were recalculated for January and February 2009. All sources of employment statistics having become available in the meantime were evaluated for the purpose. The recalculation has resulted in year-on-year rates of change that are higher by a maximum of 0.1 percentage points than the previous results at the level of the overall economy.

Based on the labour force survey, Destatis determines unemployment figures according to the concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO). According to provisional estimates, the number of unemployed amounted to a seasonally adjusted 3.28 million in March 2009. Compared with March 2008, unemployment was up by a seasonally adjusted 70,000 persons or 2.2%. Compared with February 2009, the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed rose by 2.3%. 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 7.6% in Germany and was thus above the level of the corresponding month of the previous year for the first time since November 2005. In March 2008, the unemployment rate was 7.4%.

More results, including i.a. 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.

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 %
2008	March	39.935	0.4	1.7	40.228	0.2
	April	40.087	0.4	1.6	40.246	0.0
	May	40.192	0.3	1.5	40.243	0.0
	June	40.236	0.1	1.5	40.259	0.0
	July	40.210	–0.1	1.6	40.300	0.1
	August	40.289	0.2	1.5	40.317	0.0
	September	40.600	0.8	1.4	40.337	0.0
	October	40.797	0.5	1.2	40.349	0.0
	November	40.776	–0.1	1.1	40.331	0.0
	December	40.530	–0.6	0.9	40.297	–0.1
2009	January	39.849	–1.7	0.3	40.222	–0.2
	February	39.836	0.0	0.1	40.205	0.0
	March	39.889	0.1	–0.1	40.178	–0.1

Unemployed persons whose place of residence is in Germany – seasonally adjusted results ³⁾
Unemployed	March 2009	Previous month		Same month of previous year
Unemployed	March 2009	February 2009	change	March 2008	change
³⁾ Estimated seasonally adjusted unemployment data based on the labour force survey. 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 aged 15 to 74 years living in households, excluded are persons doing compulsory military or alternative civilian service. Subgroups with corresponding breakdown.
Persons	in million		in %	in million	in %
Total	3.28	3.21	2.3	3.21	2.2
Men	1.84	1.79	4.0	1.69	9.2
Women	1.43	1.42	1.1	1.52	–5.5
15 to 24-year olds	0.56	0.54	3.5	0.52	8.3
25 to 74-year olds	2.72	2.66	2.1	2.69	1.1
Unemployment rate ⁴⁾	Shares in %		in %	Shares in %	in %
Total	7.6	7.4	2.2	7.4	2.2
Men	8.0	7.8	3.1	7.3	9.2
Women	7.1	7.0	1.0	7.5	–5.5
15 to 24-year olds	10.7	10.4	3.3	9.9	8.8
25 to 74-year olds	7.2	7.0	2.0	7.1	1.0

>>> Brief methodological description

For further information please contact:

For “employment”:
Stephan Lüken,
tel: (+49-611) 75-2016,

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

E-mail: arbeitsmarkt@destatis.de

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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