German employment up 1.0pc in Q2

Xinhua | Published: August 21, 2019 12:29:35 | Updated: August 28, 2019 14:55:21

Metal-working apprentices train in Leipzig, Germany, in 2010 - Photo: Waltraud Grubitzsch/DPA/Landov

The number of people in employment in Germany grew year-on-year by 1.0 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 to a total of 45.2 million people, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Tuesday.

However, the growth rate was slightly lower than in the previous two quarters when the number of people in employment in Germany still grew between 1.1 and 1.3 per cent.

"Although the economic situation is deteriorating, the number of people in employment continues to rise," Holger Schaefer, senior economist for employment at the German Economic Institute (IW) said on Tuesday.

The increase would have been mainly due to the "growth in the service sector", according to Destatis. Especially public services, education and health recorded strong increases in employment, followed by trade transport and accommodation.

For the first time since 2009, the sector of business services saw a decline in employment. The number of people in employment also fell in financial and insurance activities as well as in agriculture, forestry and fishing, Destatis announced.

Compared to the previous quarter, about 324,000 more people were employed in the second quarter of 2019, marking an increase of 0.7 per cent.

"Seasonal growth in employment is typical in the second quarter of a year due to the general increase in outdoor work in spring," noted Destatis.

Nonetheless, the increase in employment in Germany in the second quarter of 2019 was below the average of the past five years. The "spring upturn" in the past five years stood at an average of plus 423,000 people.

Although growth would be "slowing down noticeably", it would "still remain intact", noted IW expert Schaefer, adding that, "compared to the previous year, employment will continue to increase this year".