Press release No. 033 of 31 January 2018
WIESBADEN – In December 2017, roughly 44.6 million persons resident in Germany were in employment according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). A robust labour market was thus observed also at the end of 2017. Compared with December 2016, the number of persons in employment increased by 1.5% (+647,000 people). The rate of change thus equalled the annual average growth rate of 2017. In December 2017, roughly 1.5 million people were unemployed, 25,000 more than a year earlier.
According to provisional results of the employment accounts, the number of persons in employment in December 2017 was down by 129,000, or 0.3%, on the previous month, which is a usual seasonal phenomenon. The decrease on November was however smaller than the relevant average of the past five years (–176,000 people). After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the number of persons in employment increased by 67,000, or 0.2%, in December 2017 month on month.
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment for the reference month of December 2017, the provisional monthly employment results were recalculated for the year 2017. This involved taking account of all sources of employment statistics that had additionally become available until the time of calculation. For the monthly employment figures, the recalculation resulted in year-on-year change rates which, for July, October and November, are by 0.1 percentage points higher than the results published earlier. The annual result of 44.3 million persons in employment (domestic concept) and the year-on-year change rate of +1.5%, which were communicated in the press release of 2 January 2018 (No. 01/18), remained unchanged despite the recalculation.
Results of the labour force survey show that there were 1.54 million unemployed in December 2017. Compared with the previous month, the number increased by 44,000 or 2.7%. Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.58 million. It was down by roughly 13,000 people on the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate was 3.6% in December 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). The respective time series for persons in employment whose place of work is in Germany (domestic concept) are presented here. 2 Seasonal adjustment by Census X-12-Arima. | ||||||
| 2015 | January | 42.427 | –0.8 | 0.6 | 42.732 | 0.1 |
| February | 42.475 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 42.771 | 0.1 | |
| March | 42.640 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 42.836 | 0.2 | |
| April | 42.803 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 42.887 | 0.1 | |
| May | 42.923 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 42.922 | 0.1 | |
| June | 43.006 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 42.973 | 0.1 | |
| July | 43.034 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 43.031 | 0.1 | |
| August | 43.081 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 43.054 | 0.1 | |
| September | 43.295 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 43.097 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43.400 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 43.134 | 0.1 | |
| November | 43.475 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 43.199 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.323 | –0.3 | 1.3 | 43.251 | 0.1 | |
| 2016 | January | 42.975 | –0.8 | 1.3 | 43.285 | 0.1 |
| February | 43.047 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.343 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.212 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 43.401 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.348 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 43.428 | 0.1 | |
| May | 43.475 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 43.474 | 0.1 | |
| June | 43.550 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.512 | 0.1 | |
| July | 43.520 | –0.1 | 1.1 | 43.518 | 0.0 | |
| August | 43.627 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.600 | 0.2 | |
| September | 43.857 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 43.658 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43.965 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.706 | 0.1 | |
| November | 44.047 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.773 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.914 | –0.3 | 1.4 | 43.838 | 0.1 | |
| 2017 | January | 43.603 | –0.7 | 1.5 | 43.916 | 0.2 |
| February | 43.676 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 43.974 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.835 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 44.020 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.978 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 44.057 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.100 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.099 | 0.1 | |
| June | 44.200 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 44.159 | 0.1 | |
| July | 44.210 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 44.212 | 0.1 | |
| August | 44.293 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 44.265 | 0.1 | |
| September | 44.513 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 44.312 | 0.1 | |
| October | 44.609 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 44.353 | 0.1 | |
| November | 44.690 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 44.413 | 0.1 | |
| December | 44.561 | –0.3 | 1.5 | 44.480 | 0.2 | |
| December 2017 | Previous month | Same month of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2017 | Change | December 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 JDemetra+; calculation by Eurostat). | |||||
| Original values | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.54 | 1.50 | 2.7 | 1.52 | 1.3 |
| Persons in employment | 42.05 | 42.07 | 0.0 | 41.63 | 1.0 |
| shares in % | in % | shares in % | in % | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 0.0 |
| Employment rate 3 | 67.5 | 67.5 | 0.0 | 67.1 | 0.6 |
| Adjusted results 4 | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.58 | 1.59 | –0.6 | 1.68 | –6.0 |
| Persons in employment | 41.86 | 41.85 | 0.0 | 41.27 | 1.4 |
| shares in % | in percentage points | shares in % | in percentage points | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | –0.1 | 3.9 | –0.3 |
| including: | |||||
| Men | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 4.3 | –0.3 |
| Women | 3.2 | 3.3 | –0.1 | 3.4 | –0.2 |
| Persons aged under 25 years | 6.6 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 6.8 | –0.2 |
| Persons aged 25 to 74 years | 3.3 | 3.4 | –0.1 | 3.6 | –0.3 |
| Employment rate 3 | 67.2 | 67.2 | 0.0 | 66.5 | 0.7 |
Methodological notes:
As of reference year 2016, the sample of the microcensus, and of the labour force survey integrated in it, has been put on the 2011 Census data basis. Due to this changeover, the comparability of the results of the microcensus 2016 with those of previous years is limited. More details.
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).
>> Brief methodological description employment
>> Brief methodological description hours worked
