Press release No. 226 of 30 June 2017
WIESBADEN – In May 2017, roughly 44.1 million persons resident in Germany were in employment according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This was a record high since German reunification. Compared with May 2016, the number of persons in employment increased by 651,000 or 1.5%. In the months from January to April 2017, the year-on-year growth rates had been 1.5%, too. Approximately 1.6 million people were unemployed in May 2017, 198,000 fewer than a year earlier.
According to provisional results of the employment accounts, the number of persons in employment rose by 125,000, or 0.3%, in May 2017 month on month as a result of the continued spring upturn. The increase on April 2017 corresponded to the relevant average of the past five years. After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the number of persons in employment increased by 36,000, or 0.1%, in May 2017 month on month.
Results of the labour force survey show that 1.57 million people were unemployed in May 2017. Compared with the previous month, the number declined by 210,000 or 11.8%. Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.66 million. It was down by roughly 10,000 people from the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9% in May 2017.
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 (months).
| 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 (resident concept). 2 Seasonal adjustment by Census X-12-Arima. | ||||||
| 2014 | January | 42.159 | –0.7 | 0.7 | 42.459 | 0.2 |
| February | 42.202 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 42.502 | 0.1 | |
| March | 42.315 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 42.521 | 0.0 | |
| April | 42.474 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 42.570 | 0.1 | |
| May | 42.570 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 42.575 | 0.0 | |
| June | 42.621 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 42.600 | 0.1 | |
| July | 42.641 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 42.641 | 0.1 | |
| August | 42.660 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 42.629 | 0.0 | |
| September | 42.858 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 42.653 | 0.1 | |
| October | 42.969 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 42.687 | 0.1 | |
| November | 42.964 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 42.678 | 0.0 | |
| December | 42.781 | –0.4 | 0.7 | 42.710 | 0.1 | |
| 2015 | January | 42.429 | –0.8 | 0.6 | 42.732 | 0.1 |
| February | 42.471 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 42.767 | 0.1 | |
| March | 42.634 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 42.831 | 0.1 | |
| April | 42.792 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 42.883 | 0.1 | |
| May | 42.913 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 42.917 | 0.1 | |
| June | 42.992 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 42.969 | 0.1 | |
| July | 43.023 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 43.022 | 0.1 | |
| August | 43.070 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 43.041 | 0.0 | |
| September | 43.282 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 43.078 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43.386 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 43.108 | 0.1 | |
| November | 43.458 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 43.174 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.302 | –0.4 | 1.2 | 43.231 | 0.1 | |
| 2016 | January | 42.946 | –0.8 | 1.2 | 43.254 | 0.1 |
| February | 43.009 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 43.306 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.170 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 43.361 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.290 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 43.379 | 0.0 | |
| May | 43.419 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 43.421 | 0.1 | |
| June | 43.498 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 43.473 | 0.1 | |
| July | 43.481 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 43.483 | 0.0 | |
| August | 43.603 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 43.576 | 0.2 | |
| September | 43.842 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 43.636 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43.957 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 43.681 | 0.1 | |
| November | 44.039 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.754 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.893 | –0.3 | 1.4 | 43.820 | 0.2 | |
| 2017 | January | 43.586 | –0.7 | 1.5 | 43.900 | 0.2 |
| February | 43.655 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 43.957 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.811 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 44.000 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.945 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 44.034 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.070 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 44.070 | 0.1 | |
| May 2017 | Previous month | Same month of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2017 | Change | May 2016 | Change | ||
| 1 Persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. Extrapolated on the basis of key population figures from the 2011 Census. 2 Share of unemployed in the labour force (persons in employment and unemployed) aged 15 to 74 years. 3 Share of persons in employment in all persons aged 15 to 74 years. 4 Trend cycle component (X-12-ARIMA method using Demetra+; calculation by Eurostat). | |||||
| Original values | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.57 | 1.78 | –11.8 | 1.77 | –11.3 |
| Persons in employment | 41.43 | 41.11 | 0.8 | 40.74 | 1.7 |
| shares in % | in % | shares in % | in % | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.7 | 4.2 | –11.9 | 4.2 | –11.9 |
| Employment rate 3 | 66.7 | 66.3 | 0.6 | 65.5 | 1.8 |
| Adjusted results 4 | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.66 | 1.67 | –0.6 | 1.80 | –7.8 |
| Persons in employment | 41.56 | 41.54 | 0.0 | 41.04 | 1.3 |
| shares in % | in percentage points | shares in % | in percentage points | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 4.2 | –0.3 |
| including: | |||||
| Men | 4.3 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 4.5 | –0.2 |
| Women | 3.4 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 3.9 | –0.5 |
| Persons aged under 25 years | 6.7 | 6.7 | 0.0 | 7.1 | –0.4 |
| Persons aged 25 to 74 years | 3.5 | 3.6 | –0.1 | 3.9 | –0.4 |
| Employment rate 3 | 66.9 | 66.9 | 0.0 | 66.0 | 0.9 |
Methodological notes:
As of reference month January 2016, a new sampling frame based on the results of the 2011 Census has been used for the sample of the microcensus and the integrated labour force survey. As a result of the changeover, comparability over time with microcensus results of previous years may be limited.
The number of persons in employment as obtained in the employment accounts and that from the labour force survey differ. The differences are due to the different concepts applied in the two statistical systems. For more information on the background of the differences in results between the labour force survey and the employment accounts.
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 the European Statistical System, the results of the labour force survey are used as a standard basis for calculating unemployment rates.
Annual results, quarterly results and more monthly results are available: Employment. Under “Unemployment”, the results adjusted by means of the Berlin method (BV4.1) are additionally available (trend cycle component).