Spain: Employment Increases By 574,800, But Unemployment Still At 21%
The figures published in the Labour Force Survey (Spanish acronym: EPA) for the first quarter of the year show that the economic recovery is maintaining its effect on the job market. According to the figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (Spanish acronym: INE), employment increased by 574,800 people over the last 12 months, representing an increase of 3.29%, 0.3% higher than in the last quarter.
The total number of people in work stands at 18,029,600. In turn, unemployment has fallen in the same period by 653,200 people, down 12%. The unemployment rate has increased by 0.1% in the quarter and stands at 21% of the active population.
The figures for the first quarter of the year, which tend to be negative for employment due to seasonal factors, reflect that fewer jobs were shed than in the same period last year. In the first three months of 2016, the Spanish economy shed 64,600 jobs, while 114,300 were shed in the same period last year. This shows that the rate at which jobs have been created year-on-year has speeded up. In terms of unemployment, this has increased by 11,900 people in the first quarter of the year, while it fell by 13,100 in the same period of 2015.
The figures for the job market are in line with the growth of the Spanish economy, which started the year with strong growth of around 3%. The rate of job creation has accelerated in the last year, with 574,800 more people in work, representing growth of 3.29%, the highest figure since the third quarter of 2007. The number of people in work has risen in the services sector (up 503,500), in the agricultural sector (up 60,000), in the industrial sector (up 40,300). In contrast, it has fallen in the construction sector, with 29,000 fewer people in work. 89% of jobs created in the last year correspond to the private sector, and the remaining 11% to the public sector. During the last quarter, the number of people in work has risen in industry, but fallen in services, construction and agriculture.
The number of full-time workers has increased by 580,600 in the last year, while the number of people in part-time work has fallen by 5,800. In the last quarter, the number of people in full-time work has fallen by 51,700 and the number of people in part-time work by 12,900. In turn, permanent employment has increased in the last year by 197,700 people and temporary employment by 343,600. In the last quarter, permanent employment has increased by 52,400 while temporary employment has fallen by 106,000. The temporary employment rate has fallen by 0.62% in the last quarter to 25.04%.
In terms of unemployment, the rate stands at 21% this quarter, a 2.78% drop year-on-year, with a fall in the number of unemployed of 653,200 people. In the last quarter, the number of unemployed has risen by 11,900 people to stand at 4,791,400. The largest falls in unemployment correspond to Andalusia (170,000 fewer) and Catalonia (98,100 fewer). Unemployment has fallen over the last 12 months by 466,600 in the number of job seekers looking for work for more than a year and by 107,200 in first-time job seekers. During the quarter, unemployment fell by 66,700 people among those who lost their job more than a year previously and by 36,800 among first-time job seekers. All the sectors of the economy saw their levels of unemployment fall in the last year: there were 22,700 fewer unemployed in the industrial sector, 21,900 fewer in the agricultural sector, 19,900 fewer in the services sector and 14,900 fewer in the construction sector.
The number of households with all their members out of work has fallen over the last year by 182,700 to 1.61 million. In turn, the number of households with all their members in work has increased by 419,000 over the last year, to stand at 9.51 million. During the quarter, the number of households with all its active members out of work has increased by 54,300 while the number of households with all their members in work has fallen by 20,000.