The number of people working in the processing industry continued increasing in March. It rose by 147.500 to 5.3 million as compared to March 2007 which is a plus by 2.8%, as was reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Most jobs were created in mechanical engineering.
The number of hours worked in March 2008 decreased by 7.2% to 675 million in comparison with March last year. However, in March this year there were three working days less than last year. Gross wages and salaries amounted to 18.0 billion Euros which is 4.7% more than in March 2007.
In the field of mechanical engineering, the number of jobs increased by 5.8%. In the metal processing industry there were 5.3% more employees and 2.9% in car manufacturing. There were 2.5% more people working in the production of electricity generating and distributing machines. In the food industry the number of jobs grew by 1.3% while in the manufacture of chemical products the number of employees decreased slightly by 0.1%.
The above figures by the Federal Statistical Office apply to companies with at least 50 employees only. 