Compared to the same month last year, the number of gainfully employed persons in Germany has again increased. The number of unemployed continued to fall.

The number of gainfully employed in Germany is growing steadily. According to preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, around 44.7 million people residing in Germany were in employment in May 2018. Accordingly, 1.5 million people were unemployed in May.

Thus, the number of employed persons increased by 1.4 percent or 597,000 compared to May 2017. In the months January to April 2018, their numbers were 1.4 percent higher than in the same month of the previous year.

Compared to April 2018, the workforce increased by 120,000 or 0.3 percent. The Federal Statistical Office attributes this to the annual spring revival. There has been a similar increase over the last five years from April to May. Seasonally adjusted, after adjusting for seasonality, the number of persons employed increased by 37,000 or 0.1 percent compared to April 2018. 

The number of unemployed in May was 1.47 million people. This is 82,000 fewer than in May a year earlier. Compared to April, the number decreased by 3.3 percent or 50,000 people.

Adjusted for seasonal influences, the number of unemployed was 1.48 million, ie around 9,000 fewer than in the previous month. The adjusted unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in May of this year.

Unemployment rate drops to 5 percent

The Employment Agency also announced unemployment figures for June. The numbers of the unemployed and the unemployed differ because the authorities use different definitions. At the Federal Agency 2,276 million people were registered as unemployed in June. That’s 40,000 fewer than in May and 197,000 fewer than a year ago. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.0 percent.

If we take the seasonal fluctuations into account, according to the BA, unemployment fell by 15,000 people compared to May – by 11,000 in the west and 4,000 in the east.

“The labor market continues to develop favorably,” said BA boss Detlef Scheele. Unemployment and underemployment had declined again, employment subject to social security contributions was growing, and demand for labor continued to be buoyant. “However, the momentum on the labor market has weakened slightly recently.”

The underemployment, which also includes people who are currently taking part in further education, was 3.24 million people. It fell seasonally adjusted by 16,000 compared to the previous month.