Press release No. 171 of 19 May 2020
Persons in employment with place of employment in Germany, 1st quarter of 2020
+0.3% on the same quarter a year earlier
-1.0% on the previous quarter
0.0% on the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted)
WIESBADEN – Roughly 45.0 million people were in employment in the first quarter of 2020 whose place of employment was in Germany. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment rose by 147,000, or 0.3%, on the first quarter of 2019. Although the year-on-year growth in employment continued at the beginning of this year, it slowed markedly. Such a low increase on a year earlier was last recorded in the second quarter of 2010 (+106,000 or +0.3%). In the fourth quarter of 2019, the year-on-year rate of growth had been +0.6%.
Above-average decline compared with the 4th quarter of 2019
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the number of persons in employment declined by 467,000 (-1.0%). A decrease in employment in the first three months of a year is a common seasonal phenomenon. However, in the first quarter of 2020 the decrease was higher than the average of the past five years (-376,000 people). After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the relevant number increased slightly by 12,000 (0.0%) compared with the previous quarter.
The corona pandemic measures of the second half of March have led to an increased uncertainty of the employment estimates. However, increasing short-time work from the second half of March has not affected the number of persons in employment as, according to the employment accounts, short-time workers are counted as persons in employment rather than unemployed persons.
Service sector contributed most to growth
The year-on-year rise in employment was again mainly due to the relevant growth in the service sector in the first quarter of 2020. The largest absolute employment gains were recorded for public services, education, health (+212,000 people or +1.9%), followed by information and communication (+37,000 or +2.7%) and trade, transport, accommodation and food services (+15,000 or +0.1%). However, employment continued to decline in business services, which include employment activities (-39,000 people or -0.6%). Furthermore, the number of persons in employment decreased again in financial and insurance activities (-11,000 or -1.0%).
In industry (excluding construction), the year-on-year decline in the number of persons in employment continued and accelerated in the first quarter of 2020 (-82,000 or -1.0%). Employment in the construction industry increased by 21,000 people (+0.8%). Employment was down in agriculture, forestry and fishing (-17,000 people or -3.0%).
Again more employees, fewer self-employed
Employment growth was again mainly due to an increase in the number of employees, which rose by 259,000 (+0.6%) to 40.96 million in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of 2019. The development was based on a continuous increase in the number of employees subject to social insurance contributions. However, there was a decline in the number of persons only employed in marginal jobs (persons employed on a low-pay basis, persons employed on a short-term basis, persons in job opportunities). The decrease in self-employment continued, too. The number of self-employed including family workers declined by 112,000 (-2.7%) to 4.07 million in the first quarter of 2020 on the same period a year earlier.
Total hours worked down 1.3%
The average number of hours worked per person in employment decreased by 1.7% to 349.8 hours in the first quarter of 2020 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, fell by 1.3% to 15.8 billion hours in the same period. This is a result of increasing short-time work in the second half of March, which is not reflected in the number of persons in employment, but in the number of hours worked.
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 2020, the results published for the quarters of reference year 2019 (press release No. 049 of 18 February 2020) 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 each lower than the results published earlier for the third and fourth quarters of 2019. The relevant change rates remained unchanged for the first and second quarters of 2019, and for the year 2019 as a whole (+0.9%).
According to information released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, on 15 May 2020, employment rose by 0.3% each in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) and in the euro area in the first quarter of 2020 on 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: Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg. 4 Including family workers. qtr = quarter | ||||||
| 2016 | 43,655 | 39,313 | 4,342 | 60,888 | 1,394.8 | |
| 2017 | 44,248 | 39,976 | 4,272 | 61,564 | 1,391.3 | |
| 2018 | 44,854 | 40,631 | 4,223 | 62,344 | 1,389,9 | |
| 2019 | 45,236 | 41,087 | 4,149 | 62,706 | 1,386.2 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 43,131 | 38,762 | 4,369 | 15,281 | 354,3 |
| 2nd qtr | 43,568 | 39,221 | 4,347 | 14,542 | 333,8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 43,830 | 39,490 | 4,340 | 15,583 | 355,5 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,091 | 39,779 | 4,312 | 15,482 | 351,1 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 43,720 | 39,426 | 4,294 | 15,699 | 359,1 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,153 | 39,879 | 4,274 | 14,522 | 328,9 | |
| 3rd qtr | 44,436 | 40,165 | 4,271 | 15,742 | 354,3 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,684 | 40,433 | 4,251 | 15,601 | 349,1 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 44,380 | 40,138 | 4,242 | 15,732 | 354,5 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,776 | 40,549 | 4,227 | 14,844 | 331,5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,016 | 40,792 | 4,224 | 15,908 | 353,4 | |
| 4th qtr | 45,244 | 41,043 | 4,201 | 15,860 | 350,6 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 44,889 | 40,703 | 4,186 | 15,969 | 355,7 |
| 2nd qtr | 45,207 | 41,047 | 4,160 | 14,842 | 328,3 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,345 | 41,200 | 4,145 | 16,075 | 354,5 | |
| 4thqtr | 45,503 | 41,397 | 4,106 | 15,820 | 347,7 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 45,036 | 40,962 | 4,074 | 15,755 | 349,8 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.4 | 0.8 | -0.4 | |
| 2017 | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.6 | 1.1 | -0.3 | |
| 2018 | 1.4 | 1.6 | -1.1 | 1.3 | -0.1 | |
| 2019 | 0.9 | 1.1 | -1.8 | 0.6 | -0.3 | |
| 2016 | 1st qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.3 | 0.0 | -1.2 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.4 | 1.0 | -0.2 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.6 | 0.1 | -1.1 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.7 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.3 | 1.7 | -1.7 | -0.1 | -1.5 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.6 | 1.0 | -0.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.4 | 0.8 | -0.6 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -1.2 | 0.2 | -1.3 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.1 | 2.2 | 0.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.1 | 1.1 | -0.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.3 | 1.5 | -1.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 1.1 | 1.4 | -1.3 | 1.5 | 0.3 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.0 | 1.2 | -1.6 | -0.0 | -1.0 | |
| 3rd qtr | 0.7 | 1.0 | -1.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 0.6 | 0.9 | -2.3 | -0.3 | -0.8 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 0.3 | 0.6 | -2.7 | -1.3 | -1.7 |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2018 | 2019 | 2019 | 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 608 | 598 | 566 | 637 | 618 | 570 | 549 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,315 | 8,363 | 8,352 | 8,352 | 8,376 | 8,373 | 8,270 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,725 | 7,759 | 7,756 | 7,753 | 7,771 | 7,764 | 7,666 |
| Construction | 2,515 | 2,552 | 2,504 | 2,547 | 2,572 | 2,583 | 2,525 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,169 | 10,226 | 10,133 | 10,224 | 10,267 | 10,276 | 10,148 |
| Information and communication | 1,322 | 1,369 | 1,351 | 1,363 | 1,373 | 1,386 | 1,388 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,111 | 1,102 | 1,103 | 1,099 | 1,102 | 1,105 | 1,092 |
| Real estate activities | 476 | 481 | 479 | 482 | 483 | 482 | 479 |
| Business services | 6,225 | 6,200 | 6,166 | 6,192 | 6,224 | 6,222 | 6,127 |
| Public services, education, health | 11,112 | 11,318 | 11,234 | 11,275 | 11,295 | 11,466 | 11,446 |
| Other services | 3,001 | 3,027 | 3,001 | 3,036 | 3,035 | 3,040 | 3,012 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -1.1 | -1.6 | -0.7 | -2.5 | -1.4 | -2.1 | -3.0 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | -0.3 | -1.0 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 1.7 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | -0.5 | -1.2 |
| Construction | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Information and communication | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 2.7 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -1.7 | -0.8 | -1.1 | -0.8 | -0.6 | -0.7 | -1.0 |
| Real estate activities | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Business services | 1.4 | -0.4 | 0.1 | -0.4 | -0.7 | -0.5 | -0.6 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Other services | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
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).
