Employment data goes from record to record. This April, the number of social security affiliates has exceeded 21.1 million employed people in Spain for the first time since records began. The figure represents a historical mark that confirms the good trend in the labor market: employment has been created for 48 consecutive months and unemployment has fallen by 60,503 people, to 2.7 million, the lowest figure recorded since September 2008.
In year-on-year terms, almost 200,000 jobs have been created this April. It is the third best data in this month since 2021, only surpassed by 2017 and 2023, but without Easter this year. The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has celebrated that this situation “makes these data even more significant.”
The Government had been giving clues for a couple of weeks about this new membership record, above 21 million. Social Security already touched this figure in March and the average now stands at 21,101,505 with an interannual growth of 486,516 working people, that is, 2.4% more than a year ago. In the daily record, as the following graph shows, membership has exceeded 21 million workers every day, except April 1 and 2, 21.1 million have been exceeded for half a month and even on days 25 and 29 a new record has been set, with more than 21.2 million members, of which more than 10 million are women, 11.9% more than in the year before the pandemic.
Saiz has taken advantage of these data, which, he said, not only represent “a quantitative improvement”, but also a “qualitative one”. “Never before have there been so many members of Social Security and never have so many been registered with an indefinite contract, around 14 million,” he highlighted. Of that figure, according to ministry data, almost 9.6 million are full-time and, in April, the percentage of affiliates with this type of contract stood at 87.4%. They are 16.9 points more than before the labor reform.
The number of permanent contracts in April stood at 559,254, 44.12% of the 1.27 million created that month. It is the second best data in the series in year-on-year terms, only surpassed by 2022. In the following graph it can be seen that the last three years, since the entry into force of the labor reform, has represented a quantitative leap in this type of hiring that, In addition, it has had a positive impact on those under 30 years of age. “The reduction in the level of temporary employment is more intense (in this group), dropping 34 percentage points, from 53.1% to 19.2%, compared to the level it had before the reform,” the ministry points out.
Temporary employment continues to decrease since the entry into force of the labor reform. In April, the rate stood at 12.6%, the lowest since records began. The paradigm shift in the labor market in this sense is clearly seen in the graph. In 2021, almost one in three workers had a temporary contract. Three years later, they are just over one in 10.
The bulk of the increase in the number of jobs continues to be supported by the hospitality industry. According to membership data, the services sector had an increase of 170,000 new members, of which more than 90,000 were assigned to this sector. They are followed in number by those linked to administrative activities and auxiliary services, with 15,000 more registrations, while all sectors of the general regime grow or remain stable. People registered in the special regime for self-employed workers (RETA) also have figures similar to those of 2008, with 3,365,000 affiliations, the highest figure in the historical series.
Unemployment drops by 60,503 people
The unemployment data are another reason for joy for the Executive. “We have historic figures, but there is still much to do,” acknowledged the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, who indicated that the objective is “to have an employment rate that converges with the European average.” The second vice president highlighted that “the public policies promoted by the ministry work.” Specifically, Díaz has pointed out the increase in the minimum wage, which has not destroyed jobs, or the labor reform. “Today Spain is better,” she insisted in an interview on TVE.
The total unemployment figure stands at 2,666,500 unemployed, the lowest recorded since September 2008, according to the Ministry of Labor. In addition, it represents 2.2% less than the previous month. Although, by total number, the bulk is once again in the services sector, with 42,067 fewer unemployed people – 2.15% less than in March -, unemployment also drops in the construction sector (2.34% less) , from industry (2.08%), from agriculture (3.55%) and among people who had not had a job before (2.24%).
With these data, job creation continues to consolidate its good trend and Spain surpasses other economies of large European countries. While here it has increased by 8.9% compared to pre-pandemic levels, in December 2019, in France they have remained at 5%, in Italy at 3% and Germany has only reached 1.4%. In fact, the country has been one of those that has best weathered, in terms of employment, the crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the continent.
As for unemployment, in year-on-year terms, this April, without Easter, it has decreased by 60,503 people, 13,000 less than the previous year but, as a percentage, it represents a reduction of unemployed people of 4.4%. In the last 12 months, there have been 121,870 unemployed and fewer unemployed.
If Social Security celebrates the historical record of more than 10 million members, Labor also points out that unemployment among women has experienced a greater year-on-year drop than that of men. In total, it has decreased by 76,729 workers, 4.57% less than a year ago. Unemployment also decreases among those under 25 years of age, 8.26% compared to March.
According to Labor data, at the end of March, the total number of beneficiaries of unemployment benefits was 1.8 million, with coverage of 70.7%.
Source: www.eldiario.es
