ifo Employment Barometer Rises (January 2020)

German companies are once again looking to intensify their recruitment efforts. The ifo Employment Barometer rose to 99.7 points in January after measuring 98.9 points in December. This is its highest value since June 2019. The German labor market is starting the new year in an optimistic mood.

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This increase was driven by developments in service providers’ business. Here, the value rose to its highest level since March 2019. Architectural and engineering firms in particular want to hire more employees, but demand for new staff continues to be high in the IT sector. The number of employees in the construction industry is also rising steadily. In contrast, recruitment activity among traders is subdued at the moment, and companies in the manufacturing sector want to reduce headcount.

ifo Employment Barometer by Sector, January 2020, Image, ifo Institute

ifo Employment Barometer Germany

(Index, 2015 = 100, seasonally adjusted)

	01/19	02/19	03/19	04/19	05/19	06/19	07/19	08/19	09/19	10/19	11/19	12/19	01/20
Barometer	103.0	102.8	101.5	101.5	100.3	100.0	99.5	98.1	98.9	98.7	99.5	98.9	99.7

Source: ifo Business Survey.
© ifo Institute

ifo Employment Barometer by Sector

(Balances, seasonally adjusted)

	01/19	02/19	03/19	04/19	05/19	06/19	07/19	08/19	09/19	10/19	11/19	12/19	01/20
Manufacturing	4.0	3.0	-1.6	-4.0	-5.6	-8.2	-12.4	-10.8	-12.9	-12.0	-14.1	-14.6	-15.0
Service Sector	18.1	18.3	14.6	16.6	13.3	14.0	13.4	8.1	12.0	10.4	14.5	11.7	15.1
Trade	3.4	2.4	3.1	3.4	1.9	-0.6	1.2	-1.0	-0.9	-0.5	-0.2	1.9	0.4
Construction	16.6	17.0	15.3	10.7	13.0	11.8	12.7	11.1	10.8	13.0	12.3	13.7	13.5

Source: ifo Business Survey.
© ifo Institute

Contact

Dr. Klaus Wohlrabe

Deputy Director of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys and Head of Surveys

Tel: +49(0)89/9224-1229
Fax: +49(0)89/9224-1463
Mail: wohlrabe@ifo.de

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