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Construction site in Berlin (symbol image): Slight gains in employment in the industry
Photo: DPA
The number of people in employment in Germany rose to a new high at the end of 2022.
With around 45.9 million people in the fourth quarter, the previous record from the third quarter was exceeded, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden.
Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of people in employment rose by 107,000 (plus 0.2 percent) in the period from October to December.
Within one year, growth of 1.1 percent or 492,000 people in employment was recorded.
This was mainly due to an increase in employees subject to social security contributions.
The number of self-employed people, on the other hand, continued to decline.
The various service sectors also recorded the strongest growth at the end of the year.
Manufacturing and construction recorded slight gains in employment.
The number of people employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries stagnated.
This is the first time since the second quarter of 2014 that there has been no decline in this sector.
The volume of work done by everyone fell within a year by 0.5 percent to 15.4 billion hours.
That was 335.9 hours per person in the fourth quarter (minus 1.5 percent).
In addition to calendar effects, increased sick leave also contributed to this, explained the Wiesbaden authority.
The statisticians had already reported record figures for the entire past year.
"One reason for the increase in employment in 2022 was the immigration of foreign workers," it said in January.
"In addition, there was an increased participation in the labor force of the domestic population." These two impulses would have outweighed the dampening effects - such as demographic change - which should lead to a significant decline in the population of working age in the medium term.
ani/dpa
