Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) - The number of newly concluded training contracts in North Rhine-Westphalia has risen again slightly, but is still well below the pre-Corona level. In the 2022 training year, almost 109,000 trainees would have started their training. That is 1.4 percent more than in the previous year, but 8.3 percent less than in 2019 before the pandemic, the State Statistical Office announced on Thursday.

The increase in trainees in industry, trade and hospitality was above average. In the trades (-0.9 percent) and in the public sector (-2.9 percent), among other things, fewer training contracts were concluded in a year-on-year comparison.