Press release No. 301 of 14 August 2018
WIESBADEN – Employment continued to increase in the second quarter of 2018 according to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The number of persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany amounted to 44.8 million, which was again markedly above the previous year's level. Compared with the second quarter of 2017, the number of persons in employment increased considerably by 599,000 or 1.4%. The growth rate in the first quarter of 2018 (+1.5%) had been slightly higher, one of the reasons being the unusually good weather in the winter months of January and February 2018.
Compared with the first quarter of 2018, the number of persons in employment rose by 409,000 (+0.9%). Seasonal growth in employment is typical in the second quarter of a year due to the general increase in outdoor work in spring. The spring upturn in 2018 was slightly lower than the relevant average of the past five years (+442,000 people). After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the number of persons in employment increased by 87,000, or +0.2%, in the second quarter of 2018 compared with the previous quarter.
More employees, fewer self-employed
More and more people in Germany take up dependent employment. Compared with the same period a year earlier, the number of employees increased by 675,000 (+1.7%) to 40.6 million in the second quarter of 2018. The development was based on a continuous increase in the number of employees subject to social insurance contributions. Among employees, there was a decrease in the number of persons employed with only marginal jobs (persons employed on a low-pay basis, persons employed on a short-term basis, people in job opportunities).
The decrease in self-employment continued, too. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 76,000 (-1.8%) to 4.2 million in the second quarter of 2018 on the same period a year earlier.
Service sector contributed most to growth
The year-on-year rise in the total number of persons in employment in the second quarter of 2018 was mainly due to the growth in the service sector. The largest absolute employment gains within the service sector were recorded for public services, education, health (+200,000 people or +1.8%), followed by trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+108,000 or +1.1%) and business services (+87.000 or +1.4%). However, employment continued to decline in financial and insurance activities (-21,000 people or
-1.8%). In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment was up by 128,000 (+1.6%) and in construction by 45,000 (+1.8%) in the second quarter of 2018 compared with a year earlier. In agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of persons in employment decreased by 6,000 (-0.9%).
Note on the results published earlier
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment for the second quarter of 2018, the results published so far from the first quarter of 2014 were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounts. The recalculation resulted, at the level of the overall economy, in year-on-year change rates of the quarterly employment data that only in the first quarter of 2018 are by 0.1 percentage points higher than the results published earlier.
| Year, Quarter 1 | Persons in employment 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Employees | Self- employed 3 | ||
| Persons in 1,000 | ||||
| 1 For persons in employment: annual and/or quarterly averages. 2 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts; persons in employment whose place of employment is in Germany (domestic concept). 3 Including family workers. qtr = quarter | ||||
| 2015 | 43,071 | 38,711 | 4,360 | |
| 2016 | 43,642 | 39,308 | 4,334 | |
| 2017 | 44,269 | 39,975 | 4,294 | |
| 2015 | 1st qtr | 42,513 | 38,149 | 4,364 |
| 2nd qtr | 42,997 | 38,626 | 4,371 | |
| 3rd qtr | 43,290 | 38,912 | 4,378 | |
| 4th qtr | 43,485 | 39,158 | 4,327 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 43,087 | 38,748 | 4,339 |
| 2nd qtr | 43,563 | 39,212 | 4,351 | |
| 3rd qtr | 43,842 | 39,490 | 4,352 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,076 | 39,782 | 4,294 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 43,729 | 39,427 | 4,302 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,195 | 39,877 | 4,318 | |
| 3rd qtr | 44,479 | 40,167 | 4,312 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,672 | 40,429 | 4,243 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 44,385 | 40,149 | 4,236 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,794 | 40,552 | 4,242 | |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | ||||
| 2015 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.2 | |
| 2016 | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.6 | |
| 2017 | 1.4 | 1.7 | -0.9 | |
| 2015 | 1st qtr | 0.7 | 0.9 | -1.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 0.8 | 1.1 | -1.4 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.0 | 1.2 | -1.1 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -0.9 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.6 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.6 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.8 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -0.9 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.5 | 1.7 | -0.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.5 | 1.7 | -0.9 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -1.2 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.8 | |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2017 | 2017 | 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | ||
| Persons in 1,000 | |||||||
1 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts (domestic concept); annual and quarterly averages. qtr = quarter | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 616 | 582 | 651 | 637 | 592 | 581 | 645 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,196 | 8,128 | 8,158 | 8,235 | 8,267 | 8,259 | 8,286 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,621 | 7,559 | 7,585 | 7,658 | 7,688 | 7,684 | 7,709 |
| Construction | 2,490 | 2,430 | 2,489 | 2,521 | 2,521 | 2,480 | 2,534 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,081 | 9,947 | 10,069 | 10,132 | 10,170 | 10,060 | 10,177 |
| Information and communication | 1,279 | 1,269 | 1,278 | 1,279 | 1,290 | 1,300 | 1,310 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,151 | 1,157 | 1,149 | 1,147 | 1,152 | 1,137 | 1,128 |
| Real estate activities | 471 | 468 | 469 | 471 | 474 | 474 | 473 |
| Business services | 6,059 | 5,949 | 6,041 | 6,121 | 6,130 | 6,054 | 6,128 |
| Public services, education, health | 10,929 | 10,848 | 10,900 | 10,913 | 11,061 | 11,060 | 11,100 |
| Other services | 2,997 | 2,951 | 2,991 | 3,023 | 3,015 | 2,980 | 3,013 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -0,5 | -1,7 | -0,9 | 0,2 | 0,2 | -0,2 | -0,9 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 1,0 | 0,8 | 1,0 | 1,3 | 1,4 | 1,6 | 1,6 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| Construction | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Information and communication | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -2.2 | -2.0 | -2.2 | -2.5 | -2.1 | -1.7 | -1.8 |
| Real estate activities | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Business services | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| Other services | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
The current national accounts data on employment by quarters and years and the current monthly time series are available on the labour market web pages.
Detailed data and long time series on persons in employment and the number of hours worked are available in the GENESIS-Online database in the tables on national accounts of the Federation (81000-0012 and 81000-0016) and on the labour market (13321).
