Press release No. 312 of 18 August 2020
Persons in employment with place of employment in Germany, 2nd quarter of 2020:
-1.4% on the previous quarter (seasonally adjusted)
-0.9% on the previous quarter
-1.3% on the same quarter a year earlier
WIESBADEN – In the second quarter of 2020, roughly 44.7 million people were in employment whose place of employment was in Germany. According to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of persons in employment declined by 618,000, or 1.4%, in seasonally adjusted terms compared with the first quarter of 2020. This was the largest decline since German reunification. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, the quarter before restrictions were imposed due to the corona pandemic in Germany, the number of persons in employment was also down by a seasonally adjusted 1.4%, or 634,000, in the second quarter of 2020.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of persons in employment declined by 397,000, or 0.9%, on the previous quarter. Normally, employment rises strongly in the second quarter of a year owing to the usual spring upturn, with the average of the last five years having been 0.9% (409,000 persons) in a second quarter. As a result of the corona pandemic since the second half of March, however, an extraordinarily large decline has been observed instead of an increase this year.
Employment down 1.3% on the 2nd quarter of 2019
Compared with the second quarter of 2019, the number of persons in employment declined by 1.3% (574,000). In the first quarter of 2020, the year-on-year change rate had been +0.3%.
The measures taken to contain the corona pandemic have led to an increased uncertainty of the employment estimates. However, significantly increasing short-time work has not affected the number of persons in employment as, according to the employment accounts, short-time workers are counted as persons in employment rather than unemployed persons irrespective of the extent of short-time work.
Employment in the service sector down for the first time since 2003
On the whole, the strongest decline in the absolute number of persons in employment was observed in the service sector (-369,000; -1.1%) in the second quarter of 2020 on a year earlier. Here year-on-year employment was last down almost 17 years ago (third quarter of 2003: -70,000 people; -0.2%). The largest decrease in the absolute number of persons in employment was recorded in trade, transport, accommodation and food services ( 272,000; -2,7%) and in business services, which include employment activities ( 156,000; -2.5%). Other service activities, too, recorded a strong decline in the number of persons in employment (-85,000; -2,8%), while the existing downward trend continued in financial and insurance activities (-10,000; -0.9%). However, employment gains were still recorded for public services, education, health (+141,000; +1.3%) and for information and communication (+18,000; +1.3%).
In industry (excluding construction), the year-on-year decline in the number of persons in employment continued and accelerated in the second quarter of 2020 (-182,000; -2.2%). In construction, however, employment gains were still recorded (+11,000; +0.4%). Employment was down in agriculture, forestry and fishing (-34,000; -5.3%).
Less employees, fewer self-employed
Just over three quarters of the decline in employment were due to a fall in the number of employees, which declined by 434,000 (-1.1%) to 40.64 million in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of 2019. This development was based on the declining number of both employees subject to social insurance contributions and persons only employed in marginal jobs (persons employed on a low-pay basis, persons employed on a short-term basis, persons in job opportunities). The decline in self-employment continued and accelerated in the second quarter of 2020. The number of self-employed including family workers decreased by 140,000 (-3.4%) to 4.02 million compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Total hours worked considerably down by 10.0%
The average number of hours worked per person in employment decreased significantly by 8.8% to 297.3 hours in the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter a year earlier according to first provisional results of the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency. The total number of hours worked, that is, the number of persons in employment multiplied by the hours worked per person in employment, fell by 10.0% to 13.3 billion hours in the same period. This shows especially the impact of short-time work as of the second half of March, which is not reflected in the number of persons in employment, but in the number of hours worked.
Persons in employment in the EU
According to information released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, on 14 August 2020, employment decreased more markedly in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) and the euro area than in Germany in the second quarter of 2020 on a year earlier. The decline amounted to 2.7% in the EU and 2.9% in the euro area.
Note on the results published earlier
In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment and the number of hours worked for the second quarter of 2020, the results published so far from the first quarter of 2016 were recalculated as part of the regular revision of national accounts. Regarding the quarterly employment figures, the recalculation resulted in year-on-year change rates which differ by a maximum of 0.1 percentage points from the results published earlier. The rates of change in the annual averages have remained unchanged.
Methodological notes
The differing comparative periods must be taken into account in all press releases on short-term indicators. Short-term economic monitoring focuses on comparisons with the previous month or previous quarter. These reflect short-term economic trends. A comparison with the previous year is intended to offer a long-term comparison of levels and is not subject to seasonal fluctuations. During the current coronavirus crisis, the strong decreases especially in March/April 2020 and the slowly emerging recovery may produce highly different results for the comparison with the previous month/previous quarter and the comparison with the previous year. Both of the two perspectives are important: what is the short-term economic trend compared with the previous month/previous quarter, and how far has the catching-up process gone compared with the previous year’s level? In order to provide also a direct comparison with the pre-crisis level, all press releases on short-term indicators available in seasonally adjusted now include a comparison with February 2020 or the 4th quarter of 2019.
| Year, quarter 1 | Persons in employment 2 | Hours worked 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | employees | self- employed 4 | by persons in employment | per person in employment | ||
| persons in 1,000 | mn hours | hours | ||||
| 1 For persons in employment: annual and/or quarterly averages. 2 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts; persons in employment whose place of employment is in Germany (domestic concept). 3 Source: Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg. 4 Including family workers. qtr = quarter | ||||||
| 2017 | 44,262 | 39,989 | 4,273 | 61,483 | 1,389.1 | |
| 2018 | 44,868 | 40,645 | 4,223 | 62,229 | 1,386.9 | |
| 2019 | 45,269 | 41,117 | 4,152 | 62,596 | 1,382.8 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 43,732 | 39,438 | 4,294 | 15,675 | 358.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,166 | 39,892 | 4,274 | 14,496 | 328.2 | |
| 3rd qtr | 44,450 | 40,179 | 4,271 | 15,725 | 353.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 44,699 | 40,448 | 4,251 | 15,587 | 348.7 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 44,398 | 40,156 | 4,242 | 15,687 | 353.3 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,790 | 40,563 | 4,227 | 14,814 | 330.7 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,028 | 40,804 | 4,224 | 15,888 | 352.8 | |
| 4th qtr | 45,257 | 41,055 | 4,202 | 15,841 | 350.0 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 44,920 | 40,733 | 4,187 | 15,978 | 355.7 |
| 2nd qtr | 45,240 | 41,077 | 4,163 | 14,750 | 326.0 | |
| 3rd qtr | 45,376 | 41,229 | 4,147 | 16,074 | 354.2 | |
| 4thqtr | 45,538 | 41,429 | 4,109 | 15,795 | 346.8 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 45,063 | 40,987 | 4,076 | 15,672 | 347.8 |
| 2nd qtr | 44,666 | 40,643 | 4,023 | 13,280 | 297.3 | |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | ||||||
| 2017 | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.6 | 0.9 | -0.5 | |
| 2018 | 1.4 | 1.6 | -1.2 | 1.2 | -0.2 | |
| 2019 | 0.9 | 1.2 | -1.7 | 0.6 | -0.3 | |
| 2017 | 1st qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.7 | 2.5 | 1.0 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.7 | -0.5 | -1.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.6 | 0.8 | -0.5 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.4 | 0.7 | -0.7 | |
| 2018 | 1st qtr | 1.5 | 1.8 | -1.2 | 0.1 | -1.4 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.4 | 1.7 | -1.1 | 2.2 | 0.8 | |
| 3rd qtr | 1.3 | 1.6 | -1.1 | 1.0 | -0.3 | |
| 4th qtr | 1.2 | 1.5 | -1.2 | 1.6 | 0.4 | |
| 2019 | 1st qtr | 1.2 | 1.4 | -1.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| 2nd qtr | 1.0 | 1.3 | -1.5 | -0.4 | -1.4 | |
| 3rd qtr | 0.8 | 1.0 | -1.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | |
| 4th qtr | 0.6 | 0.9 | -2.2 | -0.3 | -0.9 | |
| 2020 | 1st qtr | 0.3 | 0.6 | -2.7 | -1.9 | -2.2 |
| 2nd qtr | -1.3 | -1.1 | -3.4 | -10.0 | -8.8 | |
| Sector of economic activity 2 | 2019 | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | 3rd qtr | 4th qtr | 1st qtr | 2nd qtr | ||
| 1 Results of employment accounts as part of national accounts (domestic concept); annual and quarterly averages. 2 Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). qtr = quarter | |||||||
| Persons in 1,000 | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 599 | 566 | 638 | 619 | 573 | 552 | 604 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 8,360 | 8,350 | 8,356 | 8,382 | 8,361 | 8,251 | 8,174 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 7,758 | 7,754 | 7,754 | 7,776 | 7,749 | 7,620 | 7,545 |
| Construction | 2,552 | 2,504 | 2,544 | 2,569 | 2,583 | 2,539 | 2,555 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 10,257 | 10,160 | 10,247 | 10,284 | 10,317 | 10,173 | 9,975 |
| Information and communication | 1,375 | 1,360 | 1,370 | 1,380 | 1,393 | 1,395 | 1,388 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 1,096 | 1,098 | 1,093 | 1,097 | 1,101 | 1,090 | 1,083 |
| Real estate activities | 481 | 478 | 481 | 482 | 482 | 480 | 476 |
| Business services | 6,201 | 6,167 | 6,193 | 6,227 | 6,227 | 6,136 | 6,037 |
| Public services, education, health | 11,313 | 11,224 | 11,269 | 11,290 | 11,462 | 11,450 | 11,410 |
| Other services | 3,035 | 3,013 | 3,049 | 3,046 | 3,039 | 2,997 | 2,964 |
| Change in % on the corresponding period of the previous year | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -1.5 | -0.7 | -2.3 | -1.4 | -1.5 | -2.5 | -5.3 |
| Industry, excluding construction | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | -0.4 | -1.2 | -2.2 |
| including: | |||||||
| Manufacturing | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | -0.6 | -1.7 | -2.7 |
| Construction | 1.5 | 1.7 | ,1.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 |
| Trade, transport, accommodation and food services | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | -2.7 |
| Information and communication | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 1.3 |
| Financial and insurance activities | -1.2 | -1.3 | -1.2 | -0.8 | -0.7 | -0.7 | -0.9 |
| Real estate activities | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -1.0 |
| Business services | -0.4 | 0.1 | -0.4 | -0.7 | -0.5 | -0.5 | -2.5 |
| Public services, education, health | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 |
| Other services | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | -0.5 | -2.8 |
Detailed data and long time series on persons in employment and the number of hours worked are available in the GENESIS-Online database in the tables on national accounts of the Federation (81000-0012 and 81000-0016) and on the labour market (13321).
Crisis Monitor allows comparison between corona crisis and and financial and economic crisis
Persons in employment are also part of the Crises monitor“, which is used by the Federal Statistical Office to compare the development of major short-term indicators between the corona crisis and the financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009. The “Crisis Monitor” complements the “Corona statistics“ webpage, which has provided statistical information on the economic and social consequences of the corona pandemic since early April.
German EU--European Union Council Presidency
As of 1 July, the Federal Statistical Office has been responsible for organisingwill organise the meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics to be held during Germany’s EU Council Presidency under the chairmanship of its President Dr. Georg Thiel. Information on our activities during the Presidency of the Council of the Germany’s EU is provided at destatis.de/eu2020.
European statistics are available under „ Europe in figures“ on our website at www.destatis.de/europa
