Press release No. 259 of 30 June 2023
Persons in employment resident in Germany, May 2023
0.0% on the previous month (seasonally adjusted)
+0.1% on the previous month (not seasonally adjusted)
+0.8% on the same month a year earlier
WIESBADEN – Roughly 45.7 million persons resident in Germany were in employment in May 2023. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment decreased slightly by 4,000 people (0.0%) from the previous month, which was the first decline in 10 months (July 2022: -19,000 people). In April 2023, the seasonally adjusted number of persons in employment was up by 14,000 compared with the previous month, following more marked month-on-month increases for February and March 2023 (+55,000 people each month; +0.1%).
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment in May 2023 rose by 27,000, or 0.1%, on April 2023. The present increase was therefore much smaller than the average May increase of the three pre-crisis years 2017 to 2019 (+97,000 people).
Unemployment rate at 2.9% in May 2023
According to results of the labour force survey, 1.31 million people were unemployed in May 2023. This represented an increase of 20,000, or 1.5%, compared with May 2022. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.9%.
Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed also stood at 1.31 million, which was a decline of 1,000 people, or 0.1%, on April 2023. Compared with the previous month, the adjusted unemployment rate in May 2023 remained stable at 2.9%.
More information:
A table containing monthly results on the number of persons in employment (unadjusted values and seasonally adjusted values) from the employment accounts is shown on the employment page of the Federal Statistical Office’s website. Tables containing unemployment results from the labour force survey including the unemployment rate are available on the unemployment page. Detailed data and long time series are provided in the GENESIS-Online database. Data on persons in employment from the employment accounts are available in tables 13321-0001 (months), 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).
