Press release No. 190 of 17 May 2019
WIESBADEN – In the first quarter of 2019 there were 44.9 million persons in employment in Germany. Based on provisional results, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports that the number of persons in employment whose place of employment was in Germany rose by 481,000 or 1.1% on the same period a year earlier.
More employees, fewer self-employed
The number of employees increased by a total of 551,000 (+1.4%) in the first quarter of 2019 on the first quarter of 2018, reaching 40.68 million. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 70,000 (-1.7%) to 4.17 million in the same period.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, the number of persons in employment was down by 344,000 (-0.8%) in the first quarter of 2019. A decrease in employment in the first three months of a year is a common seasonal phenomenon. However, in 2019 the decrease was lower than the average of the past five years (-384,000 people). After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the relevant number increased by 148,000 (+0.3%) compared with the previous quarter.
Service sector contributed most to growth
In the first quarter of 2019, the rise in the number of persons in employment on the same quarter a year earlier was again mainly due to the growth in the service sector. The largest absolute employment gains within the service sector were shown for public services, education, health (+189,000 people or +1.7%), followed by trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+81,000 people or +0.8%) and information and communication (+42,000 people or +3.2%). In contrast, the number of persons in employment was down in financial and insurance activities (-11,000 people or -1.0%) and business services (-7,000 people or -0.1%). This area, which in the first quarter of 2018 recorded an increase of 99,000 people, also includes employment activities.
In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment was up by 139,000 (+1.7%) in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same period a year earlier and in construction by 43,000 (+1.7%). In agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of persons in employment decreased slightly by 2,000 (-0.3%).
Total hours worked increased by 1.5 percent
The average number of hours worked per person in employment rose by 0.3% to 347.9 hours in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter a year earlier according to first provisional results of the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency. The total number of hours worked, that is, the number of persons in employment multiplied by the hours worked per person in employment, increased by 1.5% to 15.6 billion hours in the same period.
Note on the results published earlier
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment and of the number of hours worked for the first quarter of 2019, the results published for the quarters of 2018 (press release of 18 February 2019) were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounts. The year-on-year change rate resulting from the recalculation was 0.1 percentage points higher than the results published earlier for the fourth quarter of 2018. The relevant change rates remained unchanged for the first to third quarters of 2018 and for the year 2018 (+1.3%).
In the 28 countries of the European Union, employment was up 1.1% in the first quarter of 2019 from the same quarter a year earlier.
Year. Quarter 1 | Persons in employment 2 | Hours worked 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Employees | Self- employed 4 | by persons in employment | per person in employment | ||
| Persons in 1.000 | mn hours | hours | ||||
| 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 Source: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (Institute for Employment Research) of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency), Nuremberg. 4 Including family workers. qtr = quarter | ||||||
| 2016 | 43,642 | 39,308 | 4,334 | 59,477 | 1,362.8 | |
| 2017 | 44,269 | 39,975 | 4,294 | 60,222 | 1,360.4 | |
| 2018 | 44,841 | 40,620 | 4,221 | 61,086 | 1,362.3 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 43,087 | 38,748 | 4,339 | 14,856 | 344.8 |
| 2nd qtr | 43,563 | 39,212 | 4,351 | 14,304 | 328.4 | |
| 3rd qtr | 43,842 | 39,490 | 4,352 | 15,215 | 347.1 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,076 | 39,782 | 4,294 | 15,101 | 342.6 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 43,729 | 39,427 | 4,302 | 15,351 | 351.1 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,195 | 39,877 | 4,318 | 14,237 | 322.1 | |
| 3rd qtr | 44,479 | 40,167 | 4,312 | 15,424 | 346.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,672 | 40,429 | 4,243 | 15,210 | 340.5 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 44,370 | 40,132 | 4,238 | 15,381 | 346.7 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,783 | 40,539 | 4,244 | 14,580 | 325.6 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,015 | 40,780 | 4,235 | 15,647 | 347.6 | |
| 4th qtr | 45,195 | 41,029 | 4,166 | 15,479 | 342.5 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 44,851 | 40,683 | 4,168 | 15,606 | 347.9 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.6 | 0.8 | -0.5 | |
| 2017 | 1.4 | 1.7 | -0.9 | 1.3 | -0.2 | |
| 2018 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.7 | 1.4 | 0.1 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.6 | -0.2 | -1.5 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.5 | 2.8 | 1.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.3 | 1.5 | -0.6 | 0.8 | -0.4 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -0.8 | -0.1 | -1.4 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -0.9 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.5 | 1.7 | -0.8 | -0.5 | -1.9 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.5 | 1.7 | -0.9 | 1.4 | -0.1 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.4 | 1.6 | -1.2 | 0.7 | -0.6 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -1.5 | 0.2 | -1.3 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.3 | 1.7 | -1.7 | 2.4 | 1.1 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.8 | 1.8 | 0.6 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 1.1 | 1.4 | -1.7 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2017 | 2018 | 2018 | 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | |||
| 1 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts (domestic concept); annual and quarterly averages. 2 Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). qtr = quarter | |||||||
| Persons in 1,000 | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 616 | 617 | 581 | 656 | 635 | 592 | 579 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,196 | 8,345 | 8,259 | 8,298 | 8,376 | 8,429 | 8,398 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,621 | 7,764 | 7,684 | 7,719 | 7,796 | 7,842 | 7,816 |
| Construction | 2,490 | 2,530 | 2,476 | 2,528 | 2,558 | 2,561 | 2,519 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,081 | 10 177 | 10,063 | 10,172 | 10,236 | 10,272 | 10,144 |
| Information and communication | 1,279 | 1,318 | 1,299 | 1,312 | 1,322 | 1,336 | 1,341 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,151 | 1,134 | 1,137 | 1,131 | 1,131 | 1,138 | 1,126 |
| Real estate activities | 471 | 475 | 473 | 472 | 475 | 479 | 477 |
| Business services | 6,059 | 6,117 | 6,048 | 6,120 | 6,162 | 6,128 | 6,041 |
| Public services, education, health | 10,929 | 11,120 | 11,053 | 11,085 | 11,092 | 11,245 | 11,242 |
| Other services | 2,997 | 3,008 | 2,981 | 3,009 | 3,028 | 3,015 | 2,984 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -0.5 | 0.2 | -0.2 | 0.8 | -0.3 | 0.0 | -0.3 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 1.0 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 1.0 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| Construction | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Information and communication | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -2.2 | -1.5 | -1.7 | -1.6 | -1.4 | -1.2 | -1.0 |
| Real estate activities | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| Business services | 2.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Other services | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
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).
