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Ifo Employment Barometer - Results of the Ifo Business Survey for January 2013 Employment Barometer Falls Slightly

The Ifo Employment for German industry and trade, including the services sector, fell slightly in January. The companies surveyed nevertheless remain fairly positive about recruiting additional staff.

The index rose in manufacturing. However, a small majority of participants remains sceptical about recruiting additional staff. A clearly positive attitude towards employment expectations emerged in construction and additional recruitment can be expected here. In retailing and wholesaling the index fell, but hardly any changes are expected in the employment level. Despite weakening slightly in January, employment expectations in the services sector remain predominantly positive.

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Ifo Employment Barometer for Germany (Index value, 2005 = 100, seasonally adjusted)
  01/12 02/12 03/12 04/12 05/12 06/12 07/12 08/12 09/12 10/12 11/12 12/12 01/13
Index 108.5 108.7 108.3 107.8 108.3 107.3 106.6 106.6 106.3 105.6 106.4 106.9 106.6
Source: Ifo Business Survey

 

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The Ifo Employment Barometer is based on ca. 7,000 monthly responses from businesses in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing. The companies are asked to report on their employment plans for the coming three months. They can describe their plans for the number of employees for the coming six months as “increasing”, “stable”, or “decreasing”. The balance value of the plans is the difference in the percentage shares of the responses “increasing” and “decreasing”. To calculate the index value the balances are normed to the average for the year 2005.

The Ifo Employment Barometer is calcualted exclusively for the Handelsblatt.