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Restaurant during shutdown in Bremen (on Wednesday)
Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa
According to estimates by the Ifo Institute, the number of short-time workers rose by more than 100,000 in February.
According to this, 2.8 million people were affected, which corresponds to 8.5 percent of employees subject to social security contributions.
In January it was 8.1 percent or 2.7 million employees.
"The picture is divided into two parts: While short-time work increased, especially in hotels and restaurants, as well as in retail, it is declining in industry," said Ifo labor market expert Sebastian Link.
In the catering industry, the estimated proportion of short-time working is still the highest at 56.8 percent; in absolute figures it was an estimated 604,000 people, around 20,000 more than in January.
In retail, 675,000 or 14.8 percent of employees are likely to be on short-time work.
The proportion of those affected in the industry has not been so high since May last year.
Above all, the companies affected by the shutdown in the retail trade (16.8 percent) and the motor vehicle trade (14.9 percent) are currently increasingly using short-time working.
In transport and storage, short-time working is likely to have risen from 8.4 to 9.6 percent of employees.
For the other service providers, the institute estimates the number of short-time workers in February to be unchanged.
In industry, however, the industry recorded a significant decline in short-time working to 7.4 percent or 514,000 people - around 45,000 fewer than in January.
Since April 2020, the proportion of employees on short-time work is likely to have steadily decreased and is now even below the macroeconomic average.
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