This website is using cookies to ensure you get the best experience possible on our website.
More info: Privacy & Cookies, Imprint
Employment in Germany continues its positive trend, as announced by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) in its current press release No. 326. In Q2 2023, around 45.9 million people were employed in Germany. Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of employed persons recorded an increase of 67,000 persons (+0.1%). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, growth of 0.7% was observed. This development reflects an overall positive economic momentum, although the pace of growth is slowing compared to the previous quarter.
The increase in employment is also reflected in the non-seasonally adjusted view. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of employed persons increased by 240,000 persons or 0.5%. This increase is common in the spring, due to the revival of outside occupations. However, this year's spring revival was much more subdued, with a 0.5% increase, than last year's 0.7% growth.
Positive development in service sector
The service sector made a significant contribution to the increase in the number of people in employment. In particular, public service providers, education, health (+0.9%), trade, transport and hospitality (+0.7%) and business service providers (+0.9%) recorded significant increases. Employment in information and communication also grew dynamically by 2.9%. The financial and insurance services sector, on the other hand, recorded a slight increase of 0.1% after years of downward trend.
Labor volume and employment types
The average hours worked per employed person increased slightly by 0.1 hours to 319.1 hours. The total economic volume of work, which takes into account the increased number of employed persons and hours worked per employed person, increased by 0.8% to 14.6 billion hours. The average number of hours worked per employed person increased by 0.1% to 319.1 hours.
The positive 0.7% year-on-year growth in employment was largely driven by employment subject to social security contributions and employees in marginal jobs. The number of employees rose by 0.8% to 42 million persons, while the number of self-employed persons, including family workers, declined by 0.3% to 3.9 million persons.
European comparison
In a European context, employment increased by an average of 1.3% in the 27 European Union (EU) countries and by 1.5% in the euro area compared with the same quarter last year, which is stronger than the increase in Germany.
Conclusion and outlook
The development of employment in Q2 2023 shows continued positive momentum in the German labor market. Despite somewhat slower growth compared with the previous quarter, the upward trend remains year-on-year. The service sector in particular is contributing to the increase in employment, while the manufacturing sector also posted slight gains. The revival of the labor market is also apparent in the European context. However, possible effects of international events, such as the war in Ukraine, should be kept in mind as they could impact future developments. The strength of employment thus remains an important indicator of Germany's overall economic health.
Note: The results presented here are based on preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) and could be revised by further data updates.