2020.01.0212:00:00UTC+00German Employment At Record High In 2019

Germany's employment reached a record high in 2019 driven by higher labor force participation and the immigration of foreign workers, official data showed Thursday.

The number of persons in employment increased 0.9 percent in 2019, which was a smaller rise compared to the 1.4 percent increase seen in 2018, Destatis reported.

The employment increase observed for 14 years continued albeit with less momentum. Nonetheless, the number of employed persons rose to 45.25 million in 2019, the highest since the German reunification in 1991.

The service sector recorded the highest year-on-year increase with employment rising 19,000, or 1 percent. In industry, excluding construction, employment grew by 59,000.

Employment in the construction industry increased 36,000. Meanwhile, it decreased by 12,000 in agriculture, forestry and fishing.

"The number of employees subject to social insurance contributions increased again, whereas the total of marginally employed people (including those employed on a low-pay or short-term basis) continued to decrease," the statistical office said.

Provisional estimates based on the labor force survey indicated that the number of unemployed people in Germany declined by 96,000 or 6.5 percent to 1.37 million on an annual average in 2019.

Consequently, the unemployment rate was down to 3.0 percent in 2019 from 3.2 percent in the previous year.

The Federal Employment Agency is slated to publish the monthly unemployment data on January 3. The number of people out of work is expected to rise by 2,000 in December after falling 16,000 in November.