According to preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), approximately 46.3 million people in Germany were employed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The number of employed people remained almost unchanged, seasonally adjusted, compared to the previous quarter (+1,000 people; 0.0 percent). In the third quarter of 2024, employment had decreased, seasonally adjusted, by 47,000 people (-0.1 percent) for the first time since the first quarter of 2021.
Without seasonal adjustment, the number of employed people increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 by 156,000 people or 0.3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2024. The seasonal increase in the fourth quarter of a year compared to the previous quarter was significantly below the average of the years 2022 and 2023 (+224,000 people; +0.5 percent).
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of employed people in the fourth quarter of 2024 remained stagnant (-8,000 people; 0.0 percent). The employment growth in the previous year’s comparison had continued to decline since its peak in the second quarter of 2022 (+717,000 people; +1.6 percent) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and had only recently been 25,000 people (+0.1 percent) in the third quarter of 2024.
The number of employed people increased exclusively in the service sectors in the fourth quarter of 2024, by 130,000 people (+0.4 percent) compared to the previous year’s quarter. Within the service sectors, the development of employment was different: The public services, education and health sector grew strongly by 204,000 people (+1.7 percent) and similarly to the previous quarter.
The second-largest absolute increase within the service sectors in the fourth quarter of 2024 was recorded in the financial and insurance services sector with +16,000 people (+1.5 percent). In the trade, transport and hospitality sector, there was a small plus of 3,000 people (0.0 percent). In the enterprise services, including the sector of labor mediation and job placement, the number of employees decreased by 89,000 people (-1.4 percent) and more strongly than in the third quarter of 2024.
In the information and communication sector, the employment growth, which had been ongoing since the fourth quarter of 2015 and even continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially came to an end (-1,000 people; -0.1 percent). Similarly, the “Other services” (including associations and interest groups) ended their positive development since the fourth quarter of 2021 (-1,000 people; 0.0 percent).
In the manufacturing sector (excluding construction), the number of employed people continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to the previous year’s quarter, by 98,000 people (-1.2 percent). In construction, the number of employees decreased by 35,000 people (-1.3 percent) and in agriculture, forestry and fishing by 5,000 people (-0.9 percent).
The fact that employment did not decline further compared to the previous year’s quarter was mainly due to the positive development of the number of insured employees. Job losses, on the other hand, occurred in the number of employees with only marginal activities (gig and short-term workers, as well as people in labor arrangements). In total, the number of employees increased by 78,000 (+0.2 percent) in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, reaching 42.5 million people. In contrast, the number of self-employed, including family members, continued to decline. Their number decreased by 86,000 people (-2.2 percent) to 3.7 million.
According to the first preliminary calculations by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency, the average working hours per employed person increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 by 0.8 percent to 334.8 hours compared to the previous year’s quarter. The total labor volume, i.e., the product of the number of employed people and the increased working hours per employed person, increased by 0.7 percent to 15.5 billion hours in the same period.
According to Eurostat, the European statistics office, the employment rate in the 27 EU member states increased, on average, by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year’s quarter and by 0.6 percent in the euro area, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.