Robust German employment
January 2, 20132012 saw another rise in the number of employed people across Germany, the National Statistics Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday on the basis of preliminary calculations.
It said some 41.5 million people were employed in Germany last year, marking a 1.0-percent increase from 2011 levels and a rise for the sixth consecutive year.
Since 2005, the army of employed people in the country has swollen by 6.8 percent, or by 2.66 million people in absolute terms.
Labor market intact
Destatis announced, though, that gainful occupation rose slower last year because of sluggish industrial activity particularly in the second half of the year.
The office made a point of stressing that there had been a disproportionally steep rise in state-insured employment over the past 12 months, with the private and public service sector, as well as the building industry, taking on most new workers.
Destatis also said the number of self-employed Germans increased by 6,000 people year-on-year to total 4.55 million people.
hg/kms (dpa, dapd)