Slight rise in number of employed in Germany in Dec 2023: Destatis

The number of persons in employment rose by 24,000 MoM in November and by 13,000 MoM in October last year. After seasonally-adjusted declines in August and September last year, employment showed a positive trend again in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, according to a release by official statistics agency Destatis.

Without seasonal adjustment, the number of employed persons in December 2023 was down by 0.3 per cent compared to November. This is a usual development at the end of the year.

Prior to this, employment figures had reached a new record high each month in the period from September to November last year. The decrease in December was somewhat more pronounced than in December 2022.

Compared with December 2022, the number of employed persons in the country in December last year was up by 0.4 per cent, or 203,000.

In September, October and November last year, the year-on-year (YoY) change rate was 0.5 per cent each. In January and February, it stood at 1 per cent. Compared with the previous year, the long-term upward trend on the labour market, therefore, continued at a slower pace.

The labour force survey found 1.3 million people were unemployed in the country in December last year—an increase of 13,000, or 1 per cent, YoY.

Adjusted for seasonal and irregular effects, the number of unemployed stood at 1.37 million in December—an increase of 5,000 on the previous month.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)