Destatis - Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland : November 2012: employment growth continues to slow down

Press release 002 / 2013-01-03:November 2012: employment growth continues to slow down

WIESBADEN- In November 2012, a total of 41.9 million persons were in employment whose place of residence was in Germany, according to provisional calculations of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Compared with November 2011, this was an increase of 249,000 or 0.6%. However, the year-on-year difference has decreased considerably since the beginning of 2012 as economic development lost some of its dynamism. In January 2012, the year-on-year increase in the number of persons in employment whose place of residence was in Germany still amounted to 1.4%. The number of unemployed was some 2.26 million in November 2012, which was a decrease of about 84,000 on a year earlier. In January 2012, unemployment was down by 250,000 compared with the same month of the previous year. 

According to provisional results of employment accounts, the number of persons in employment rose slightly by 9,000 in November 2012 on October 2012. After seasonal adjustment, that is, after the elimination of the usual seasonal fluctuations, the relevant number increased by 10,000 in November 2012 compared with the previous month. 

In addition to the first calculation of the number of persons in employment for the current reference month of November 2012, the monthly employment results published so far were recalculated back to January 2012 within the scope of the first preliminary estimation of a result for the entire year of 2012 (see press release 1/13 of 2 January 2013). The recalculation produced year-on-year rates of change which, at the level of the overall economy, are up to 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous calculation results. 

According to results of the labour force survey, the number of unemployed was down by 3.4% in November 2012 on November 2011. It decreased by 84,000 to 2.26 million people. Compared with October 2012, the number of unemployed increased by 17,000 or 0.9%. When adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed declined by 19,000 to 2.28 million (-0.9%) on October 2012. The adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4% in November 2012.

Detailed data and long time series are available from the GENESIS-Online database. Data on persons in employment from employment accounts are available in tables 13321-0001 (months) and 81000-001 (quarters, years). Data on persons in employment and unemployed persons from the labour force survey can be found in tables 13231-0001 (months) and 81000-0011 (years).

Methodological notes:

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. 

The number of persons in employment as obtained in employment accounts and that from the labour force survey differ from each other. The differences are mainly due to the different methods and procedures applied in the two statistical systems. 

In employment accounts, the total number of persons in employment is estimated using all sources available (currently about 60 sources). The labour force survey is a continuous household survey (currently integrated in the microcensus), which is conducted every year among one percent of the population in Germany. It involves the obligation to provide information and is harmonised across the EU The number of persons in employment obtained by the labour force survey is smaller than that of employment accounts because, as experience shows, it is difficult in household surveys to entirely cover smaller activities, for example those performed by pupils and students. According to the international definition, such activities are considered as employment, too. Nevertheless, 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).

I. Employment accounts
Persons in employment whose place of residence is in Germany 1

Year	Month	Original values
		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.
2010	January	39,998	-1.2	-0.3	40,288	-0.1
	February	40,003	0.0	-0.3	40,304	0.0
	March	40,143	0.3	0.0	40,379	0.2
	April	40,350	0.5	0.3	40,457	0.2
	May	40,481	0.3	0.5	40,514	0.1
	June	40,540	0.1	0.8	40,572	0.1
	July	40,529	0.0	0.9	40,590	0.0
	August	40,634	0.3	1.0	40,643	0.1
	September	40,915	0.7	1.0	40,687	0.1
	October	41,106	0.5	1.1	40,746	0.1
	November	41,131	0.1	1.1	40,779	0.1
	December	40,957	-0.4	1.2	40,826	0.1
2011	January	40,572	-0.9	1.4	40,867	0.1
	February	40,629	0.1	1.6	40,941	0.2
	March	40,732	0.3	1.5	40,972	0.1
	April	40,920	0.5	1.4	41,024	0.1
	May	41,038	0.3	1.4	41,061	0.1
	June	41,087	0.1	1.3	41,110	0.1
	July	41,093	0.0	1.4	41,149	0.1
	August	41,172	0.2	1.3	41,173	0.1
	September	41,428	0.6	1.3	41,202	0.1
	October	41,585	0.4	1.2	41,233	0.1
	November	41,650	0.2	1.3	41,300	0.2
	December	41,495	-0.4	1.3	41,365	0.2
2012	January	41,152	-0.8	1.4	41,449	0.2
	February	41,131	-0.1	1.2	41,450	0.0
	March	41,244	0.3	1.3	41,490	0.1
	April	41,403	0.4	1.2	41,506	0.0
	May	41,530	0.3	1.2	41,547	0.1
	June	41,538	0.0	1.1	41,555	0.0
	July	41,527	0.0	1.1	41,581	0.1
	August	41,597	0.2	1.0	41,591	0.0
	September	41,787	0.5	0.9	41,563	-0.1
	October	41,890	0.2	0.7	41,543	0.0
	November	41,899	0.0	0.6	41,553	0.0

II. Labour force survey
Unemployed persons and persons in employment 1

	November 2012	Previous month		Same month of the previous year
		October 2012	Change	November 2011	Change
1 Persons in households aged 15 to 74 years. excluding persons performing compulsory military or civilian service. 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 Demetra+; calculation by Eurostat).
	Original values
	in million		in %	in million	in %
Unemployed persons	2.26	2.24	0.9	2.34	-3.4
Persons in employment	40.55	40.28	0.7	40.18	0.9
	shares in %		in %	shares in %	in %
5.3	5.3	0.0	5.5	-3.6
64.4	64.0	0.6	63.7	1.1
	in million		in %	in million	in %
Unemployed persons	2.28	2.30	-0.9	2.38	-4.2
Persons in employment	40.24	40.18	0.1	39.82	1.1
	shares in %		in %	shares in %	in %
5.4	5.4	0.0	5.6	-3.6
including:
Men	5.6	5.6	0.0	5.9	-5.1
Women	5.1	5.2	-1.9	5.3	-3.8
Persons aged under 25 years	8.1	8.1	0.0	8.2	-1.2
Persons aged 25 to 74 years	5.0	5.1	-2.0	5.3	-5.7
64.0	63.8	0.3	63.2	1.3

For further information please contact:
for employment accounts:
Ulf-Karsten Keil,
tel: [phone]

for the labour force survey:
Andreas Grau,
tel: [phone]
contact form