BERLIN (Reuters) – Despite the shrinking economy, the number of people in work in Germany reached an all-time high at the end of 2022.
From October to December it rose by 107,000 or 0.2 percent on the previous quarter to a record value of around 45.9 million, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Thursday. The increase has thus accelerated: in the third quarter there was an increase of 38,000 or 0.1 percent. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter as consumers held back on spending in the face of falling real wages as a result of high inflation.
Without adjusting for seasonal distortions, the number of people in employment even increased by 258,000 or 0.6 percent at the end of the year. An increase during this period is common. “However, growth in 2022 was higher than the average for the three pre-crisis years from 2017 to 2019,” emphasized the statisticians. This is 217,000 people or 0.5 percent.
Service providers again made the greatest contribution to the rise in employment. Here, the number of people in employment rose by 443,000 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. “The largest absolute increase in employment was again recorded in the area of public service providers, education, health,” it said. An increase of 142,000 people was reported here. The second largest increase was recorded in the retail, transport and hospitality sectors with 121,000 people, followed by corporate service providers with 108,000 people, which also include the placement and leasing of workers. In the information and communication sector, the growth in employment was even more dynamic at 69,000 or 4.7 percent. In the finance and insurance sector, on the other hand, the downward trend that has existed for years continued: Here there was a decline of 12,000.
The industry reported an increase of 35,000 people or 0.4 percent. Employment gains were also once again achieved in the construction industry, with an increase of 14,000 people or 0.5 percent. In agriculture, forestry and fisheries there were just as many workers as a year earlier. The number of self-employed including family workers fell by 37,000 to 3.9 million, while the number of employees grew by 529,000 to 42.0 million.
(Report by Rene Wagner. Edited by Christian Götz. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected])