At the end of September 2007, German processing companies with at least 50 staff employed almost 5.3 million people. According to the Federal Statistical Office this corresponds to an increase of 98.000 people or 1.9% as compared to September 2006. The number of hours worked, however, fell by 0.4% to 673 million as compared to September 2006.
Gross wages and salaries amounted to a total of 17 billion Euros in September which is 1.4% more than in the previous year.
As far as the most important sectors of the processing industry are concerned, the number of jobs grew most in the metal processing industry (+5.8%) and in mechanical engineering (+4.6%). The number of people employed fell, however, in the food industry (-0.5%) and the manufacture of motor vehicle and of components thereof (-0.6%). 