Almost 5.4 million people were employed by companies of the processing industry at the end of June which is a plus of 2.7% or 138.800 employees as compared to June 2007. However, when calculating these figure the Federal Statistical Office only took into account companies employing at least 50 people. Therefore, the real increase in jobs might actually be even bigger. Leading in this respect is mechanical engineering. The smallest number of new jobs was generated in the chemical industry.
The number of hours worked increased by 5.2% in June this year as compared to June last year. However, there was one more working day this year in June than last year. Gross salaries and wages amounted to 19.7 billion Euros which is a plus by 2.4% in comparison to June last year.
The number of jobs grew in particular in mechanical engineering (+5.9%) and the metal processing industry (+4.7%). With regard to manufacturers of motor vehicles and components thereof the increase was +3.1%. As far as manufacturers of machines for generating electricity are concerned the increase was 2.1%. For the food and the chemical industry the respective figures were +0.7% and -0.1%. 