The number of people employed in Germany's manufacturing industry rose sharply during the year to May 2011.

According to new figures from the federal statistics agency Destatis, the country saw a 2.9 per cent increase in such jobs during the 12 months in question.

Provisional results indicate the number of individuals working in manufacturing organizations employing 50 or more people jumped by around 142,500 to almost 5.1 million during the period under analysis.

In addition, hours worked in the industry climbed by 18 per cent year-on-year to 710 million and earnings expanded by 10.4 per cent to €19.9 billion for the sector.

Germany may require higher levels of labor migration in the future after Destatis announced recently that the nation's population shrank during 2010 by 51,000 to 81.75 million.

The report showed the 0.1 per cent drop in the number of people in the country was smaller than the 210,000 fall witnessed the previous year.

Posted by Alex Donnell