Press release No. 475 of 1 December 2020
Persons in employment resident in Germany, October 2020
0.0% on the previous month (seasonally adjusted)
+0.2% on the previous month (not seasonally adjusted)
-1.3% on the same month a year earlier
WIESBADEN – Roughly 44.8 million people resident in Germany (national concept) were in employment in October 2020 according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment rose slightly by 16,000, or 0.0%, in October 2020 compared with the previous month. However, the number of persons in employment is still markedly below the pre-crisis level. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of persons in employment in October 2020 was down by 1.4%, or 616,000, on February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment rose by 89,000 (+0.2%) in October 2020 on the previous month, along with the usual autumn upturn. This month-on-month increase is below the relevant average for October over the past five years (+100,000 people).
Year-on-year decrease in employment continues
Compared with October 2019, the number of persons in employment decreased by 1.3% (-586,000). The year-on-year decrease in the number of persons in employment has remained at almost the same level since May 2020, when the year-on-year difference also stood at -1.3%, or -589,000. In the pre-crisis month of February 2020, employment had increased by 0.4% (+195,000 people) on a year earlier. That upward trend ended when the corona pandemic started in March 2020.
When considering these results, it should be noted that, according to the employment accounts and labour force survey concepts, short-time workers are not counted as unemployed but as persons in employment.
Unemployment rate at 4.4% in October 2020
According to estimates based on the labour force survey, 1.93 million people were unemployed in October 2020. That was a decrease of 12,000, or 0.5%, compared with September 2020. Compared with October 2019, the number of unemployed people increased by 607,000 (+46.2%). The unemployment rate was 4.4% in October 2020.
| Year | Month | Original values | Seasonally adjusted 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| persons | change on previous month | change on the same month of the previous year | persons | change on previous month | ||
| millions | % | millions | % | |||
| 1 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounting: persons in employment whose place of residence is in Germany (national concept). The respective time series for persons in employment whose place of work is in Germany (domestic concept) are presented here. 2 Seasonal adjustment by X13-ARIMA method using JDemetra+. | ||||||
| 2018 | January | 44.266 | -0.6 | 1.5 | 44.510 | 0.2 |
| February | 44.317 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 44.533 | 0.1 | |
| March | 44.411 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 44.581 | 0.1 | |
| April | 44.554 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.625 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.673 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.682 | 0.1 | |
| June | 44.690 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 44.713 | 0.1 | |
| July | 44.709 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 44.751 | 0.1 | |
| August | 44.754 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 44.809 | 0.1 | |
| September | 44.981 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 44.813 | 0.0 | |
| October | 45.094 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 44.861 | 0.1 | |
| November | 45.195 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 44.910 | 0.1 | |
| December | 45.072 | -0.3 | 1.2 | 44.946 | 0.1 | |
| 2019 | January | 44.773 | -0.7 | 1.1 | 44.996 | 0.1 |
| February | 44.836 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 45.031 | 0.1 | |
| March | 44.912 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 45.085 | 0.1 | |
| April | 45.046 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 45.120 | 0.1 | |
| May | 45.110 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 45.123 | 0.0 | |
| June | 45.092 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 45.127 | 0.0 | |
| July | 45.093 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 45.141 | 0.0 | |
| August | 45.077 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 45.138 | 0.0 | |
| September | 45.321 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 45.158 | 0.0 | |
| October | 45.411 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 45.179 | 0.0 | |
| November | 45.473 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 45.187 | 0.0 | |
| December | 45.327 | -0.3 | 0.6 | 45.197 | 0.0 | |
| 2020 | January | 45.004 | -0.7 | 0.5 | 45.214 | 0.0 |
| February | 45.031 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 45.212 | 0.0 | |
| March | 44.925 | -0.2 | 0.0 | 45.099 | -0.2 | |
| April | 44.636 | -0.6 | -0.9 | 44.708 | -0.9 | |
| May | 44.521 | -0.3 | -1.3 | 44.536 | -0.4 | |
| June | 44.511 | 0.0 | -1.3 | 44.556 | 0.0 | |
| July | 44.531 | 0.0 | -1.2 | 44.582 | 0.1 | |
| August | 44.526 | 0.0 | -1.2 | 44.591 | 0.0 | |
| September | 44.736 | 0.5 | -1.3 | 44.580 | 0.0 | |
| October | 44.825 | 0.2 | -1.3 | 44.596 | 0.0 | |
| October 2020 2 | Previous month | Same month of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2020 2 | change | October 2019 | change | ||
| 1 Persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. 2 Estimation based on the previous period due to limited data collection. 3 Share of unemployed in the labour force (persons in employment and unemployed) aged 15 to 74 years. 4 Share of persons in employment in all persons aged 15 to 74 years. 5 Trend cycle component (X-13-ARIMA method using JDemetra+. calculation by Eurostat | |||||
| Unadjusted values | |||||
| millions | % | millions | % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.93 | 1.94 | -0.5 | 1.32 | 46.2 |
| Persons in employment | 42.39 | 42.26 | 0.3 | 42.75 | -0.8 |
| percentage shares | % | percentage shares | % | ||
| Unemployment rate 3 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 46.7 |
| Employment rate 4 | 68.2 | 68.0 | 0.3 | 68.7 | -0.7 |
| Adjusted results 5 | |||||
| millions | % | millions | % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.97 | 1.98 | -0.5 | 1.37 | 43.8 |
| Persons in employment | 42.17 | 42.16 | 0.0 | 42.51 | -0.8 |
| percentage shares | percentage points | percentage shares | percentage points | ||
| Unemployment rate 3 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| Men | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.6 | 0.9 |
| Women | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
| Persons aged under 25 years | 6.0 | 6.1 | -0.1 | 5.7 | 0.3 |
| Persons aged 25 to 74 years | 4.3 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 1.5 |
| Employment rate 4 | 67.8 | 67.8 | 0.0 | 68.3 | -0.5 |
Detailed data and long time series are available from the GENESIS-Online database. The data on persons in employment from employment accounts are available in tables 13321-0001 (months) and 13321-0002 (quarters) and 81000-0011 (years). Data on persons in employment and unemployed persons from the labour force survey can be found in tables 13231-0001 to 13231-0003 (months).
Methodological notes
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. During the current coronavirus crisis, the strong decreases especially in March/April 2020 and the slowly emerging recovery may produce highly different results for the comparison with the previous month/previous quarter and the comparison with the previous year. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and how far has the catching-up process gone compared with the previous year’s level? In order to provide also a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted form now include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.
Due to the corona pandemic, estimating the numbers of persons in employment and of unemployed at present involves higher uncertainty than usual. In addition, data collection problems have affected the estimation of unemployment figures.
The number of persons in employment from the employment accounts differs from that of the labour force survey. The differences are due to the different conceptual approaches (national or domestic concept) applied in the two statistical systems. For more information on the reasons why the results of the labour force survey differ from those of the employment accounts please refer to the explanatory notes on the statistics.
Persons in employment and unemployed persons are counted according to the employment status concept of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Therefore, unemployment as shown here must not be confused with registered unemployment as published by the Federal Employment Agency in accordance with the Social Code. In the European Statistical System, the results of the labour force survey are used as a standard basis for calculating unemployment rates.
The microcensus and the integrated labour force survey were redesigned both in technical and in methodological terms; the new approach was introduced at the beginning of 2020. For technical reasons, data collection has been limited since the beginning of this year. Therefore, the results as from January 2020 were determined by means of an estimate based on the results for the previous periods, considering current developments.
Crisis Monitor allows comparison between corona crisis and and financial and economic crisis
The employment figures are also part of the "Crises monitor", by means of which the Federal Statistical Office compares the development of major short-term indicators in the corona crisis and in the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The “Crisis Monitor” complements the “Corona statistics“ webpage, which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic since early April.
