February has once again responded well to the labor market. Employment growth accelerated with an average of 103,621 more employed people than in January, the largest increase in a month of February since 2007. Meanwhile, unemployment fell by 7,452 people and stands at 2.76 million unemployed, which represents 150,607 unemployed less than in February 2023 (-5.17%). The labor reform continues to improve the Spanish labor market: the temporary employment rate falls to historic lows of 12.7%.
The dynamism of the Spanish economy is creating a labor market in which the hiring momentum is once again similar to the period before the great financial crisis. In Spain there are 20,708,382 people affiliated on average since last month 103,621 more employees joined than in January, the largest increase in a month of February since 2007. The growth in hiring has been 2.7%, with 538,239 more workers than a year ago.
If we take into account the seasonally adjusted data (they do not take into account seasonal elements that cause fluctuations in the labor market), Social Security has registered 20,954,785 affiliated workers in February, which would mean an increase of 551,359 workers in the last year, in line with the average job creation in the years before the pandemic.
The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration highlights that “job creation in Spain (+8.1%) exceeds that of large European countries (France, +5%; Italy +2.9%; Germany, + 1.4%) compared to that pre-pandemic level. The increase in employment is also more notable than in these countries since the start of the war in Ukraine, a period in which in Spain it has grown by 5.9%, while in France and Germany growth of less than 2% is recorded.
The sectors that have created the most jobs last month have been Hospitality (29,230 more affiliates), followed by Education (28,941 more), Construction (18,189 more), and Manufacturing Industry (13,130 more). On the contrary, the activities where jobs have been destroyed have been Health Activities and Social Services and Commerce, with 10,252 and 9,590 fewer affiliates, respectively.
More employment in high added value sectors
Social Security places emphasis on the intense growth of employment in sectors with high added value such as IT and Telecommunications, whose number of affiliates has increased by 26.3%, or Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, which presents a growth of 16.6%. %. Both sectors with high productivity have created 329,000 jobs since the end of the pandemic.
The ministry headed by Elma Saiz highlights the good evolution of employment for women. In February, 300,623 more hires were made than in the same month of 2023. In this way, there are 9.787 million registered workers in our country, which means that more than half of the employment created in the last year corresponds to women (54.52%). .
Regarding unemployment, the number of unemployed people registered in the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) has been reduced by 7,452 people (-0.27%). There are 150,607 fewer unemployed than in February 2023 (-5.17%).
Unemployment registered in February drops in 11 autonomous communities. The largest falls in absolute figures occurred in Andalusia (-4,110), Comunitat Valenciana (-1,552) and Castilla y León (-704) while it rose in six autonomous communities, especially in Aragón (667), Comunidad de Madrid (465) and Foral Community of Navarra (374).
The ministry of Yolanda Díaz emphasizes that the coverage rate of the unemployment protection system already reaches 73.89% of the unemployed, with an increase of 6.7% and would be the highest value since 2011. After the suppression by of one of the cuts during Mariano Rajoy’s mandate, the average monthly expenditure per beneficiary has been 1,105 euros, which represents an increase of 33.9 euros (3.2%) compared to the previous year.
The temporary employment rate falls to historical lows
The percentage of permanent contracts stands at 87.3%, its historical maximum, growing 17.3 points, confirming the process of stabilization of employment and the improvement of its quality since the labor reform. Thus, the temporary employment rate is at historic lows of 12.7%. Social Security highlights the evolution of those under 30 years of age, since the reduction in the level of temporary employment falls by 33.6 percentage points (from 53% to 19.4%) compared to the level it had before the reform.
Permanent contracts reached 46.02% of the total again last month, highlights the Ministry of Labor, almost one in two, when before the new labor legislation they barely reached 10%. 523,445 indefinite employment contracts have been registered.
The best increase in self-employed workers “in the last six years”
The self-employed organization ATA has highlighted this Monday that the growth in membership of self-employed workers by 10,097 people registered in February is “the best figure in the last six years” and triple the increase experienced in the same month of 2023.
ATA has highlighted that these 10,097 new self-employed affiliates in February mean that Social Security added 348 new self-employed workers every day of last month. In the last year, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) has gained 26,465 self-employed workers.
“Given that we are in women’s month, it should be noted that this significant growth among the group has been driven by women, who added 19,300 new contributors compared to 7,165 new male contributors,” stressed the president of ATA, Lorenzo Love.
In addition to women, ATA has placed emphasis on the growth of self-employed workers over 50 years of age over the last year. According to Amor, 70% of this increase is mainly due to the “push” that Andalusia and Madrid are having mainly.
“The self-employed are growing, entrepreneurship is growing, every day there are more self-employed people compared to other times when we have seen a decline and a fall. At this time we must recognize the good data and the good behavior that the self-employed are having,” concluded the ATA president.
Source: www.eldiario.es
