Services create jobs, industry downsizes

Overall, the number of people in employment grew by 0.6% to 5.532 million, according to the employment barometer published on Monday. Compared to the previous quarter, there was a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.1 percent.

At the same time, the number of vacancies fell significantly: companies reported 93,200 vacancies, 10 percent fewer than in the previous year. Difficulties in recruiting skilled workers also decreased. Only 37.1% of companies reported problems, 2.2 points less than a year ago.

Short-term employment prospects, on the other hand, have clouded over. The proportion of companies planning to increase staff fell to 11.0% (previous year: 12.3%), while 4.3% were considering a reduction (previous year: 3.7%).

The indicator for employment prospects therefore fell by 1.1 points, but remained in positive territory with a value of 1.04. This continues to point to a slight expansion.