Press release No. 067 of 17 February 2022
Persons in employment with place of employment in Germany, 4th quarter of 2021:
+0.3% on the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted)
+0.7% on the previous quarter (not seasonally adjusted)
+1.0% on the same quarter of the previous year
WIESBADEN – In the fourth quarter of 2021, there were roughly 45.4 million people in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. The seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment rose notably by 157,000 (+0.3%) on the third quarter of 2021 but remained below pre-crisis level according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the last quarter before restrictions were imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany, the number of persons in employment fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, or 172,000, in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment even increased by 311,000, or 0.7%, on the third quarter of 2021. It is a usual phenomenon that the number of persons in employment goes up in the fourth quarter of a year compared with the previous quarter. However, the increase in 2021 was higher than the relevant average of the three pre-crisis years 2017 to 2019 (+219,000 people; +0.5%).
Largest year-on-year increase in employment since the second quarter of 2019
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of persons in employment was up by 434,000 (+1.0%) in the fourth quarter of 2021. Employment rose once again in a year-on-year comparison (second quarter of 2021: + 0.1%, third quarter of 2021: +0.7%). In the first quarter of 2021, employment had decreased by 1.5% on a year earlier. The positive year-on-year development observed since the second quarter can still be attributed to the sharp decline in the number of persons in employment in 2020, when the measures taken against the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the labour market. Nevertheless, a marked upward trend has become evident since the summer of 2021 which goes beyond this base effect. A larger year-on-year employment increase than in the fourth quarter of 2021 was last observed in the second quarter of 2019 (+1.0%, or 449,000 people).
It should be noted that the measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic have also led to an increased uncertainty of the employment estimates. The significant increase and subsequent decline in short-time work, however, does not affect the number of persons in employment because, according to the employment accounts, short-time workers are still counted as persons in employment.
Largest employment increase observed in the service sector
The service sector was the main contributor to the increase in the total number of persons in employment in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the same quarter of 2020 (+436,000; +1.3%). The largest absolute employment gains were recorded for public services, education, health (+242,000 people; +2.1%), followed by business services (+82,000; +1.3%), which also include employment activities. Trade, transport, accommodation and food services had employment gains for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2019 (+65,000 people; +0,7%). Employment growth continued and accelerated in information and communication (+51,000 people; +3,6%), whereas the negative trend recorded for other service activities (incl. associations and other membership organisations) has almost come to a halt (-3,000 people; -0,1%). The downward trend observed for years now in financial and insurance activities continued, however (-5,000 people; -0.5%).
In industry (excluding construction), the number of persons in employment continued downwards in the fourth quarter of 2021 year on year (-17,000 people; -0.2%) but the decline is becoming smaller (third quarter of 2021: -53,000 people; -0,7%). In construction, however, the number of persons in employment continued to increase (+23,000; +0.9%). Employment was down in agriculture, forestry and fishing by 8,000 people (-1.5%).
More employees, fewer self-employed
The year-on-year increase in employment of 1.0% was mainly due to the positive development of the number of employees subject to social insurance contributions in the fourth quarter of 2021. However, larger employment losses were recorded in the number of persons only employed in marginal jobs (on a low-pay or short-term basis, in job opportunities) and in the number of self-employed. All in all, the number of employees increased by 503,000 (+1.2%) to 41.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same quarter of 2020 whereas the number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 69,000 (-1.7%) to 3.9 million compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Total hours worked increased by 3.7 percent
The average number of hours worked per person in employment rose by 2.7% to 346.4 hours in the fourth quarter of 2021 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, was up by 3.7% to 15.7 billion hours in the same period.
Persons in employment in the EU
According to information released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, on 15 February 2022, employment increased by an average 2.1% in both the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) and the euro area and thus more than in Germany (1.0%) in the fourth quarter of 2021 year on year when calculated using methods harmonised across Europe.
Note on the results published earlier
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment and the number of hours worked for the fourth quarter of 2021, the results published so far as of the first quarter of 2021 were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounts. Regarding the quarterly employment figures, the recalculation resulted in year-on-year change rates that are by 0.1 percentage points higher in the second and the third quarter compared with the results published earlier. The annual result of 44.9 million persons in employment and the year-on-year change rate of 0.0%, which were communicated in press release no. 01/22 of 3 January 2022, have remained unchanged in the recalculation because the minor revision of the quarterly results did not impact the rounded annual result.
| Year, quarter 1 | Persons in employment 2 | Hours worked 3 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | employees | self- employed 5 | total | per person in employment | |||
| seasonally adjusted value 4 | original value | mn hours | hours | ||||
| 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: Source: Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg. 4: Seasonal adjustment using X13-ARIMA in JDemetra+. 5: Including family workers. qtr = quarter | |||||||
| 2018 | - | 44,858 | 40,635 | 4,223 | 62,113 | 1,384.7 | |
| 2019 | - | 45,268 | 41,117 | 4,151 | 62,539 | 1,381.5 | |
| 2020 | - | 44,898 | 40,860 | 4,038 | 59,454 | 1,324.2 | |
| 2021 | - | 44,920 | 40,991 | 3,929 | 60,611 | 1,349.3 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 45,171 | 44,906 | 40,720 | 4,186 | 15,952 | 355.2 |
| 2nd qtr | 45,278 | 45,230 | 41,069 | 4,161 | 14,727 | 325.6 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,290 | 45,378 | 41,231 | 4,147 | 16,060 | 353.9 | |
| 4th qtr | 45,334 | 45,559 | 41,448 | 4,111 | 15,800 | 346.8 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 45,379 | 45,122 | 41,036 | 4,086 | 15,604 | 345.8 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,771 | 44,712 | 40,662 | 4,050 | 13,235 | 296.0 | |
| 3rd qtr | 44,710 | 44,794 | 40,760 | 4,034 | 15,446 | 344.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,736 | 44,965 | 40,983 | 3,982 | 15,169 | 337.4 | |
| 2021 | 1st qtr | 44,698 | 44,451 | 40,504 | 3,947 | 14,953 | 336.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,810 | 44,742 | 40,818 | 3,924 | 14,139 | 316.0 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,005 | 45,088 | 41,156 | 3,932 | 15,796 | 350.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 45,162 | 45,399 | 41,486 | 3,913 | 15,725 | 346.4 | |
| Percentage change on the previous quarter | Percentage change on the same period of the previous year | ||||||
| 2018 | - | 1.4 | 1.6 | -1.2 | 1.0 | -0.3 | |
| 2019 | - | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.7 | 0.7 | -0.2 | |
| 2020 | - | -0.8 | -0.6 | -2.7 | -4.9 | -4.1 | |
| 2021 | - | 0.0 | 0.3 | -2.7 | 1.9 | 1.9 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | -1.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| 2nd qtr | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.3 | -1.6 | -0.4 | -1.4 | |
| 3rd qtr | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.1 | -1.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | |
| 4th qtr | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | -2.1 | -0.1 | -0.8 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | -2.4 | -2.2 | -2.6 |
| 2nd qtr | -1.3 | -1.1 | -1.0 | -2.7 | -10.1 | -9.1 | |
| 3rd qtr | -0.1 | -1.3 | -1.1 | -2.7 | -3.8 | -2.6 | |
| 4th qtr | 0.1 | -1.3 | -1.1 | -3.1 | -4.0 | -2.7 | |
| 2021 | 1st qtr | -0.1 | -1.5 | -1.3 | -3.4 | -4.2 | -2.7 |
| 2nd qtr | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -3.1 | 6.8 | 6.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.0 | -2.5 | 2.3 | 1.6 | |
| 4th qtr | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.2 | -1.7 | 3.7 | 2.7 | |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th 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 | 599 | 580 | 562 | 531 | 593 | 586 | 541 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,366 | 8,180 | 8,080 | 8,064 | 8,064 | 8,087 | 8,114 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,764 | 7,576 | 7,471 | 7,459 | 7,459 | 7,477 | 7,498 |
| Construction | 2,547 | 2,579 | 2,607 | 2,569 | 2,602 | 2,619 | 2,638 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,230 | 10,012 | 9,875 | 9,722 | 9,771 | 9,959 | 10,029 |
| Information and communication | 1,377 | 1,398 | 1,430 | 1,405 | 1,423 | 1,436 | 1,457 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,096 | 1,086 | 1,080 | 1,081 | 1,078 | 1,078 | 1,085 |
| Real estate activities | 480 | 477 | 478 | 474 | 477 | 480 | 483 |
| Business services | 6,226 | 6,106 | 6,128 | 6,044 | 6,106 | 6,166 | 6,196 |
| Public services, education, health | 11,306 | 11,480 | 11,717 | 11,625 | 11,676 | 11,695 | 11,874 |
| Other services | 3,041 | 3,000 | 2,963 | 2,936 | 2,952 | 2,982 | 2,982 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -1.5 | -3.2 | -3.1 | -4.3 | -3.7 | -2.5 | -1.5 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 0.7 | -2.2 | -1.2 | -2.4 | -1.5 | -0.7 | -0.2 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 0.6 | -2.4 | -1.4 | -2.6 | -1.6 | -0.8 | -0.3 |
| Construction | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 0.5 | -2.1 | -1.4 | -4.2 | -1.7 | -0.5 | 0.7 |
| Information and communication | 3.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -1.2 | -0.9 | -0.6 | -0.6 | -0.3 | -0.5 | -0.5 |
| Real estate activities | 0.6 | -0.6 | 0.2 | -0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| Business services | 0.0 | -1.9 | 0.4 | -2.2 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Other services | 1.3 | -1.3 | -1.2 | -3.1 | -1.1 | -0.4 | -0.1 |
Detailed data and long time series on persons in employment for Germany 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).
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 hardly subject to seasonal fluctuations. Due to temporarily strong fluctuations in production and employment during the current Covid-19 crisis, the results of month-on-month/quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons may differ considerably. To enable 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.
Crisis Monitor enables comparison between Covid-19 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 Covid-19 crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The Crises Monitor complements the Corona Statistics webpage, which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of April 2020.
