German Employment At Record High, Thanks To Strong Economy, Immigration

(RTTNews) - German employment growth, which has lasted over a decade, continued in 2015 with the number of those with jobs setting a reunification-high, largely helped by a resilient economy and immigration of foreign workers.

The number of residents in employment rose by 324,000 persons or 0.8 percent to 43 million last year, provisional data from Destatis showed Monday. The pace of increase slowed slightly from the 0.9 percent registered in the previous year.

Employment grew for a tenth consecutive year since stagnation. Higher labor force participation of the domestic population and the immigration of foreign workers offset negative demographic effects, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed fell by 140,000 persons or 6.7 percent to 1.95 million. The figure fell below 2 million for the first time since the German reunification.

The ILO unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent from 4.7 percent, which was just below the EU average rate.

The active labor force, combining those employed and unemployed, grew by 184,000 persons or 0.4 percent to 44.9 million.

The number of employees resident in Germany increased by 421,000 or 1.1 percent to 38.7 million.

Further, the number of persons whose place of employment was in Germany exceeded 43 million for the first time. The figure rose by 329,000 or 0.8 percent from the previous year.

The difference between the number of persons in employment who are resident in Germany and the number of those whose place of employment is in Germany can be explained by the balance of non-residents working in Germany and residents working abroad, Destatis said.

The number of non-residents working in Germany exceeded the number of residents working abroad by 68,000 persons.

According to a newspaper report last week, Germany took in more than a million refugees in 2015, five times greater than last year's figure, and the biggest since reunification in 1990.

Policymakers are yet to assess the economic impact that the migration has on the euro area economy, though some German lawmakers see the rising number as a blessing to tackle the skills shortage and a labor force shrinkage in future. Germany has thus far welcomed the maximum number of migrants than any other EU state.

In December, the Bundesbank said the German labor market will experience shortages to a growing extent, driving up wage increases, despite the expansionary effect which immigration is having on the labor supply.

The Federal Labor Agency is set to release the labor market figures for December on Tuesday. The number of those claiming jobless benefits is forecast to drop by 8,000 from the previous month and the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at a record low 6.3 percent.