At the end of February 2008 there were about 5.3 million people employed in companies with at least 50 people in the processing industry. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this corresponded to a plus of 141,000 or 2.7% more people than in February 2007. The biggest increase was registered in the field of mechanical engineering while in the chemical industry the number of employees slightly fell.
The number of hours worked in February 2008 increased by 6.1% to 714 million as compared to February last year. Salaries and wages amounted to 17.1 billion Euros in February this year which is a plus by 5.8% in comparison with February 2007.
The number of employees grew most in the sector of mechanical engineering (+5.6%), in the metal producing industry (+4.8%) and in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry and the production of components thereof (+2.8%).
The number of people employed in the production of electricity generating devices increased by +2.5%. It rose by +1.2% in the food industry. In the chemical industry the number of employees decreased by 0.3%. 