Press release No. 239 of 29 June 2018
WIESBADEN – Roughly 44.7 million persons resident in Germany were in employment in May 2018 according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with May 2017, the number of persons in employment increased by 1.4% (+597,000). The year-on-year growth rates had also been 1.4% in the months from January to April 2018. Approximately 1.5 million people were unemployed in May 2018, 82,000 fewer than a year earlier.
According to provisional results of the employment accounts, the number of persons in employment rose by 120,000, or 0.3%, in May 2018 compared with the previous month. This was due to the continued spring upturn. The present month-on-month increase and the average increase of the past five years (+122,000 people) were almost the same. After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the number of persons in employment increased by 37,000, or 0.1%, in May 2018 compared with April 2018.
Results of the labour force survey show that 1.47 million people were unemployed in May 2018. Compared with the previous month, their number declined by 50,000 or 3.3%. Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.48 million. In seasonally adjusted terms, it declined by roughly 9,000 people on the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4% in May 2018.
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 | 42.729 | 0.0 |
| February | 42.475 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 42.768 | 0.1 | |
| March | 42.640 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 42.833 | 0.2 | |
| April | 42.803 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 42.886 | 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 | 43.056 | 0.1 | |
| September | 43.295 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 43.100 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43.400 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 43.137 | 0.1 | |
| November | 43.475 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 43.203 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.323 | –0.3 | 1.3 | 43.256 | 0.1 | |
| 2016 | January | 42.975 | –0.8 | 1.3 | 43.279 | 0.1 |
| February | 43.047 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.337 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.212 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 43.397 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.348 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 43.426 | 0.1 | |
| May | 43.475 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 43.472 | 0.1 | |
| June | 43.550 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.513 | 0.1 | |
| July | 43.520 | –0.1 | 1.1 | 43.518 | 0.0 | |
| August | 43.627 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.605 | 0.2 | |
| September | 43.857 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 43.662 | 0.1 | |
| October | 43,965 | 0,2 | 1,3 | 43,711 | 0,1 | |
| November | 44.047 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 43.778 | 0.2 | |
| December | 43.914 | –0.3 | 1.4 | 43.847 | 0.2 | |
| 2017 | January | 43.601 | –0.7 | 1.5 | 43.904 | 0.1 |
| February | 43.674 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 43.962 | 0.1 | |
| March | 43.831 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 44.010 | 0.1 | |
| April | 43.973 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.049 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.093 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.089 | 0.1 | |
| June | 44.191 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 44.152 | 0.1 | |
| July | 44.201 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 44.204 | 0.1 | |
| August | 44.265 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 44.243 | 0.1 | |
| September | 44.478 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 44.282 | 0.1 | |
| October | 44.566 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 44.317 | 0.1 | |
| November | 44.647 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 44.378 | 0.1 | |
| December | 44.512 | –0.3 | 1.4 | 44.442 | 0.1 | |
| 2018 | January | 44.228 | –0.6 | 1.4 | 44.532 | 0.2 |
| February | 44.287 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 44.575 | 0.1 | |
| March | 44.432 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.610 | 0.1 | |
| April | 44.570 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.647 | 0.1 | |
| May | 44.690 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 44.684 | 0.1 | |
| May 2018 | Previous month | Same month of the previous year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2018 | Change | May 2017 | Change | ||
| 1 Persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. 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 | 1.47 | 1.52 | –3.3 | 1.55 | –5.2 |
| Persons in employment | 41.54 | 41.30 | 0.6 | 41.15 | 0.9 |
| shares in % | in % | shares in % | in % | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.4 | 3.6 | –5.6 | 3.6 | –5.6 |
| Employment rate 3 | 66.9 | 66.5 | 0.6 | 66.5 | 0.6 |
| Adjusted results 4 | |||||
| in million | in % | in million | in % | ||
| Unemployed persons | 1.48 | 1.49 | –0.7 | 1.64 | –9.8 |
| Persons in employment | 41.72 | 41.70 | 0.0 | 41.41 | 0.7 |
| shares in % | in percentage points | shares in % | in percentage points | ||
| Unemployment rate 2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 3.8 | –0.4 |
| Men | 3.8 | 3.9 | –0.1 | 4.2 | –0.4 |
| Women | 2.9 | 3.0 | –0.1 | 3.4 | –0.5 |
| Persons aged under 25 years | 6.1 | 6.2 | –0.1 | 6.6 | –0.5 |
| Persons aged 25 to 74 years | 3.1 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 3.5 | –0.4 |
| Employment rate 3 | 67.2 | 67.1 | 0.1 | 66.9 | 0.3 |
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.
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).
