German services sector sales fall 11 pct in Q2

[September 04, 2009]  FRANKFURT (AP) -- The German services sector saw second quarter sales fall 11 percent compared with a year earlier as the economic downturn continued to hurt demand.

The Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistical Office said Friday that strong declines were seen in the business services sector, which saw sales fall 13 percent, while the transport and warehousing sector saw a 12 percent drop compared to the April-June period of 2008.

The number of employed in the overall services sector decline by 2.3 percent, with business services jobs falling more than 6 percent and the transport and warehousing sector jobs dropping about 1 percent.

The office said the information and communication sector stood out with a 5.1 percent rise in sales and a 1 percent increase in the number of employed.

Compared to the first quarter of 2009, overall services sector sales were only down 1.6 percent.

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[Associated Press]

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