The number of employed workers rose in Germany through the second quarter of 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
Germany’s total workforce currently consists of approximately 46.1 million people, including regularly employed workers and those who are self-employed.
This represents a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, and an increase of 0.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
Excluding the seasonal adjustment, the increase was 0.5 percent compared to the first quarter. (Destatis adjusts to offset an increase in employment in the 2nd quarter which is common due to the upturn in outdoor occupations in the spring.)
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Year-on-year German employment rate trends higher
Compared with 2023, 167,000 more jobs (+0.4 percent) were added in the second quarter this year.
Overall Germany’s employment rate has been steadily increasing since the end of the Covid pandemic. The last time there was a decline in employment in Germany was in the first quarter of 2021.
While employment growth continues, Destatis notes that the upward momentum has slowed slightly: seasonally adjusted second quarter growth this year was a bit less than first quarter growth.
Germany’s employment growth was a bit less than than in Europe more generally. According to the European statistical office (Eurostat) the employment rate across the eurozone rose by 0.8 percent in the second quarter this year – roughly doubling the employment growth seen in Germany.
Still Germany remains among the countries with higher employment rates in Europe. According to Statista, Germany had the 6th highest employment rate of the 27 EU member states at the beginning of the year.
With a total employment rate close to 77 percent, Germany is comparable to Norway and Denmark in this respect.
Which sectors are adding or cutting jobs?
While overall employment growth in Germany looked good this quarter, new jobs were primarily created in one sector: service.
The service sector added an estimated 229,000 additional employees in the second quarter – with public services, education and health seeing the biggest growth in particular.
On balance, all other sectors of the economy taken together saw a net decrease in employment.
Small gains were recorded in the financial and insurance services, information and communication, and the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors. Whereas small losses were recorded in trade, transport and accommodation and food service as well as business services (which includes jobs related to the placement and leasing of workers).
The industry and construction sectors saw job losses continue, with the number of net jobs down compared to the same time last year – down 44,000 workers and 21,000 workers respectively.
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The increase in regular employment also came with a slight decrease in self-employment. The number of self-employed, including family workers, fell by 29,000 to 3.8 million (down 0.8 percent compared with 2023).
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Overall the average hours worked per worker also increased slightly according to provisional calculations by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).
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