Press release No. 094 of 2 March 2021
Persons in employment resident in Germany, January 2021
0.0% on the previous month (seasonally adjusted)
-0.7% on the previous month (not seasonally adjusted)
-1.6% on the same month a year earlier
WIESBADEN – Roughly 44.3 million people resident in Germany (national concept) were in employment in January 2021 according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment rose slightly by 14,000, or 0.0%, in January 2021 compared with the previous month. The number of persons in employment thus is still markedly below the pre-crisis level. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the number of persons in employment in January 2021 was down by 1.6%, or 726,000, on February 2020, the month before restrictions were imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in Germany.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment was down on the previous month in January 2021 (by 306,000 or -0.7%), which is normal for that time of the year. This month-on-month decline was slightly below the relevant average for January over the past five years (-329,000 people).
Year-on-year decrease in employment continues
Compared with January 2020, the number of persons in employment decreased markedly by 1.6% (-714,000). The year-on-year decrease in the number of persons in employment thus continued. The year-on-year change rate had been from -1.4% to -1.5% each month from May to October 2020 and -1.6% in November and December, respectively. In the pre-crisis month of February 2020, employment had increased by 0.4% (+199,000) on a year earlier.
Please note that short-time workers are not counted as unemployed but as persons in employment in accordance with the employment accounts and labour force survey concepts.
Unemployment rate at 4.6% in January 2021
According to estimates based on the labour force survey, 2.04 million people were unemployed in January 2021. That was an increase of 90,000, or 4.6%, compared with December 2020. Compared with January 2020, the number of unemployed increased by 564,000 (+38.2%). The unemployment rate was 4.6% in January 2021.
| 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 | ||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | |||
| 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 | 44.511 | 0.2 |
| February | 44.317 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 44.533 | 0.0 | |
| March | 44.411 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 44.581 | 0.1 | |
| April | 44.554 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.624 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.673 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.681 | 0.1 | |
| June | 44.690 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 44.710 | 0.1 | |
| July | 44.709 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 44.753 | 0.1 | |
| August | 44.754 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 44.808 | 0.1 | |
| September | 44.981 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 44.810 | 0.0 | |
| October | 45.094 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 44.857 | 0.1 | |
| November | 45.195 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 44.914 | 0.1 | |
| December | 45.072 | -0.3 | 1.2 | 44.952 | 0.1 | |
| 2019 | January | 44.773 | -0.7 | 1.1 | 44.998 | 0.1 |
| February | 44.836 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 45.031 | 0.1 | |
| March | 44.912 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 45.084 | 0.1 | |
| April | 45.046 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 45.118 | 0.1 | |
| May | 45.110 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 45.120 | 0.0 | |
| June | 45.092 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 45.122 | 0.0 | |
| July | 45.093 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 45.145 | 0.1 | |
| August | 45.077 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 45.138 | 0.0 | |
| September | 45.321 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 45.153 | 0.0 | |
| October | 45.411 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 45.172 | 0.0 | |
| November | 45.473 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 45.195 | 0.1 | |
| December | 45.327 | -0.3 | 0.6 | 45.206 | 0.0 | |
| 2020 | January | 45.004 | -0.7 | 0.5 | 45.215 | 0.0 |
| February | 45.035 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 45.216 | 0.0 | |
| March | 44.923 | -0.2 | 0.0 | 45.095 | -0.3 | |
| April | 44.636 | -0.6 | -0.9 | 44.706 | -0.9 | |
| May | 44.469 | -0.4 | -1.4 | 44.482 | -0.5 | |
| June | 44.452 | 0.0 | -1.4 | 44.491 | 0.0 | |
| July | 44.432 | 0.0 | -1.5 | 44.490 | 0.0 | |
| August | 44.431 | 0.0 | -1.4 | 44.497 | 0.0 | |
| September | 44.655 | 0.5 | -1.5 | 44.494 | 0.0 | |
| October | 44.741 | 0.2 | -1.5 | 44.504 | 0.0 | |
| November | 44.744 | 0.0 | -1.6 | 44.472 | -0.1 | |
| December | 44.596 | -0.3 | -1.6 | 44.476 | 0.0 | |
| 2021 | January | 44.290 | -0.7 | -1.6 | 44.490 | 0.0 |
| January 2021 3 | Previous month | Same month of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2020 3 | Change | January 2020 3 | Change | ||
| 1 Persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. 2 Discrepancies may occur as the results are presented in a rounded form. 3 Estimation based on the previous periods due to limited data collection. 4 Share of unemployed in the labour force (persons in employment and unemployed) aged 15 to 74 years. 5 Share of persons in employment in all persons aged 15 to 74 years. 6 Trend cycle component (X-13-ARIMA method using JDemetra+; calculation by Eurostat). | |||||
| Original values | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 2.04 | 1.95 | 4.6 | 1.48 | 38.2 |
| Persons in employment | 42.28 | 42.29 | 0.0 | 42.88 | -1.4 |
| shares in % | in % | shares in % | in % | ||
| Unemployment rate 4 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 38.3 |
| Employment rate 5 | 68.1 | 68.0 | 0.0 | 68.9 | -1.3 |
| Adjusted results 6 | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 2.02 | 2.02 | 0.1 | 1.51 | 34.0 |
| Persons in employment | 42.18 | 42.15 | 0.1 | 42.71 | -1.2 |
| shares in % | in percentage points | shares in % | in percentage points | ||
| Unemployment rate 4 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 1.2 |
| Men | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 0.7 |
| Women | 4.7 | 4.6 | 0.1 | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| Persons aged under 25 years | 6.2 | 6.3 | -0.1 | 5.7 | 0.5 |
| Persons aged 25 to 74 years | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 1.2 |
| Employment rate 5 | 67.9 | 67.8 | 0.1 | 68.6 | -0.7 |
Methodological note:
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 hardly subject to seasonal fluctuations. Due to strong temporary decreases during the current coronavirus crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and what is the current level 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 will, for the time being, include a comparison with February 2020 or the fourth quarter of 2019.
Due to the coronavirus 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 mainly due to the different conceptual approaches (national or domestic concept) used 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 involved restrictions ever since. Therefore, the results as from January 2020 have been determined by means of an estimate based on the results for the previous periods, considering current developments.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between corona crisis and financial and economic crisis
The employment figures also form part of the “Crisis Monitor” (www.destatis.de/krisenmonitor) 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 (www.destatis.de/corona), which provides statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic.
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).
