Press release No. 437 of 13 November 2018
WIESBADEN – Employment continued to increase in the third 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 45.04 million, exceeding the 45-million threshold in any quarter for the first time since German reunification. Compared with the third quarter of 2017, the number of persons in employment increased considerably by 556,000, or 1.3%, due to the beginning autumn upturn. A generally good labour market situation and solid good weather had a positive effect on employment.
Compared with the second quarter of 2018, the number of persons in employment rose by 259,000 (+0.6%). An increase in employment in the third quarter of a year is a usual seasonal pattern. After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the number of persons in employment increased by 117,000, or 0.3%, in the third 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 623,000 (+1.6%) to 40.8 million in the third quarter of 2018. The development was based on a continuous increase in the number of employees subject to social insurance contributions. The number of persons employed with only marginal jobs was down. This refers to persons employed on a low-pay or short-term basis and people in job opportunities.
The decrease in self-employment continued, too. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 67,000 (-1.6%) to 4.2 million in the third 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 third quarter of 2018 was mainly due to the growth in the service sector. The largest absolute employment gains were recorded for public services, education, health (+181,000 people or +1.7%), followed by trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+94,000 or +0.9%) and business services (+59,000 or +1.0%). However, employment continued to decline in financial and insurance activities (-19,000 people or -1.7%). In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment was up by 137,000 (+1.7%) in the third quarter of 2018 year on year; in construction it grew by 41,000 (+1.6%) and in agriculture, forestry and fishing by 2,000 (+0.3%).
Note on the results published earlier
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment for the third quarter of 2018, the results published so far for the first and second quarters of 2018 were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounts. The recalculation resulted, at the level of the overall economy, in a year-on-year employment change rate for the second quarter of 2018 which is by 0.1 percentage points lower than the result published earlier.
On 14 November 2018, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, will release employment data for the European Union and the euro area. This will include the data published here for Germany.
| 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 | 44,371 | 40,133 | 4,238 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,776 | 40,528 | 4,248 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,035 | 40,790 | 4,245 | |
| 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 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.6 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.6 | |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2017 | 2017 | 2018 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | ||
| Persons in 1,000 | ||||||||
| 1 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts; Persons in employment whose place of employment is in Germany (domestic concept); annual and quarterly averages. 2 Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 616 | 582 | 651 | 637 | 592 | 580 | 653 | 639 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,196 | 8,128 | 8,158 | 8,235 | 8,267 | 8,261 | 8,295 | 8,372 |
| including: | ||||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,621 | 7,559 | 7,585 | 7,658 | 7,688 | 7,685 | 7,716 | 7,792 |
| Construction | 2,490 | 2,430 | 2,489 | 2,521 | 2,521 | 2,477 | 2,528 | 2,562 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,081 | 9,947 | 10,069 | 10,132 | 10,170 | 10,061 | 10,164 | 10,226 |
| Information and communication | 1,279 | 1,269 | 1,278 | 1,279 | 1,290 | 1,300 | 1,312 | 1,321 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,151 | 1,157 | 1,149 | 1,147 | 1,152 | 1,138 | 1,131 | 1,128 |
| Real estate activities | 471 | 468 | 469 | 471 | 474 | 474 | 473 | 476 |
| Business services | 6,059 | 5,949 | 6,041 | 6,121 | 6,130 | 6,046 | 6,120 | 6,180 |
| Public services, education, health | 10,929 | 10,848 | 10,900 | 10,913 | 11,061 | 11,054 | 11,091 | 11,094 |
| Other services | 2,997 | 2,951 | 2,991 | 3,023 | 3,015 | 2,980 | 3,009 | 3,037 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | ||||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -0.5 | -1.7 | -0.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| including: | ||||||||
| Manufacturing | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Construction | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Information and communication | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 3.3 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -2.2 | -2.0 | -2.2 | -2.5 | -2.1 | -1.6 | -1.6 | -1.7 |
| Real estate activities | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Business services | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| Other services | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
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).
