Macroeconomic working volumes increased by 2.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 in comparison with the previous year. This is the result of an investigation by the Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB, or the Institute for Employment Research). In the first quarter of 2011 the labour force produced 364.5 working hours on average, which is 5.1 hours or 1.4 per cent more than one year ago. At the same time the labour force also rose by 1.4 per cent. According to the results of the IAB – a research institute of the German Federal Employment Agency – productivity per working hour rose strongly again for the first time in five years and was 2.3 per cent above the previous year’s value. In total macroeconomic production was 5.2 per cent higher in the first quarter of 2011 than in 2010.

At 38.23 hours per week full time employees’ working time was somewhat higher in the first quarter of 2011 than in the first quarter of 2010. Credits in working hours accounts grew because more paid overtime was worked than in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. The number of workers on short time was only around 300,000 per month on average in the first quarter of 2011 – after 933,000 in the first quarter of the previous year.