Photo: Workers in the construction industry. (picture alliance/Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/archive)
Craft businesses in Germany have markedly increased their revenues since the beginning of the year thanks to strong growth in the construction industry.
Revenues increased 5.9 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period one year earlier, the German Federal Statistics Office announced Monday in Wiesbaden.
The construction industry and the finishing trades saw the sharpest revenue growth at 7.7 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. But the motor and food-service industries as well as craftsmen for private use also did brisk business in the first quarter.
Employment within the year saw a slight positive increase of 0.5 percent according to the statistics. Growth in employment was largest in the healthcare industry.
Skilled trades in Germany are more optimistic than ever before despite current geopolitical crises, as shown by a recent market report from the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH).
The sector with over 5.4 million employees domestically expects an increase in sales of 3 percent for the full 2018 business year thanks to full order books.
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