The fourth quarter 2007 was a good one for the service sector. According to provisional estimates by the Federal Statistical Office, turnover increased by 6.2% in nominal figures as compared to the same quarter in the year 2006. In comparison with the third quarter last year, turnover increased by 2.9% after adjustments for calendar and season.
Comparison with the previous quarter
Turnover fell with regard to transport (-0.7%) and telecommunications (-0.3%) while it increased as far as data processing and data bases were concerned (5.4%) and with regard to other business services (5.3%).
The number of employees fell by 0.1% after adjustment for season. Less people worked in transport (-0.6%), in the telecommunications sector (-0.1%) as well as in other kinds of services (-0.1%). Only in the field of data processing and data bases the number of employees increased by 0.9% on the previous quarter.
Comparison with the respective quarter one year earlier
Turnover in the field of telecommunications fell by 5.7%, but increased by 2.9% in transport and by 14.0% with regard to data processing and data bases. It rose by 7.1% as far as other kinds of services are concerned.
The number of employees as of December 31st 2007 was 3.9% higher than twelve months earlier. 