Germany finishing trades employment index
Germany finishing trades employment index stood at 98.3 in Q2 2026, according to Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis). It is one of the indicators in the Finishing trades table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q3 2008 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Finishing trades table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finishing trades total, persons employed2 | 98.3 | 98.3 | 99 | 100.5 | 99 | 98.9 | 99.7 | 101.2 | 99.8 | 100 | |
| Building installation, persons employed | 101.8 | 102.1 | 102.9 | 103.8 | 102 | 102.2 | 103.1 | 104 | 102.3 | 102.7 | |
| Other building completion, persons employed | 92.6 | 92.2 | 92.7 | 95.2 | 94.1 | 93.4 | 94 | 96.5 | 95.6 | 95.4 |
Understanding germany finishing trades employment index
This headline employment index tracks the total workforce engaged across all finishing trades within the German construction sector. The count captures active participants including working proprietors, trainees, part-time staff, and full-time employees on the payroll during the reference quarter. It aggregates the labour force from both the building installation subdivision and the other building completion subdivision into a single measure. Agency workers temporarily supplied to finishing trade enterprises are typically excluded from this headcount, as they remain on the payroll of the employment agency rather than the construction firm itself.
Tracking quarterly changes in this workforce aggregate requires awareness of regular seasonal patterns, as construction activity heavily depends on weather conditions. Comparing the same quarter from the previous year removes most weather-related distortions and provides a clearer view of underlying staffing cycles than period-on-period variations. Revisions occasionally alter recent quarters when late-reporting enterprises submit final payroll records. Reclassifications of businesses moving into or out of the finishing trades sector, alongside periodic rebasing of the reference year, can introduce minor discontinuities in the historical index curve. Users should avoid directly comparing this employment index with the equivalent turnover index without adjusting for inflation and part-time working hours.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this index measure the total number of hours worked in finishing trades?
- No, the series counts the number of persons on the payroll regardless of whether they work full-time or part-time schedules.
- Are self-employed tradespeople included in this employment measure?
- Working proprietors and unpaid family workers active in the enterprise are counted alongside salaried employees in this index.
- How does rebasing affect the historical values of this series?
- When the base year shifts to a more recent period, the entire historical time series is mathematically rescaled to equal 100 in the new reference year.