Employment reaches a new record and this March reaches 21 million Social Security affiliates. In total, the labor market reached 20,901,967 workers last month, 193,585 more than in February and 525,414 more than a year ago, with an interannual growth in average affiliation of 2.6%. In addition, unemployment has decreased by 33,405 people and stood at 2,727,003 unemployed during this period, 4.73% less than in March 2023.
It has been the services sector that has sustained the bulk of the increase in employment. There have been 168,259 more workers than the previous month and 474,575 more than a year ago.
Precisely, unlike the previous one, Easter has fallen in March, which has boosted employment, which was already on the rise in previous years and which already in this same month of 2023 far exceeded the records prior to the pandemic. As can be seen in the following graph, this is the second best month of March in terms of job creation.
These dates already suggested an increase in social security contributions exceeding 21 million. An estimate that the Executive had already advanced and that is passed, according to the Ministry’s figures, if the seasonally adjusted data is taken into account, a calculation that provides data apart from the original series and that subtracts the effect of the calendar.
The 2.7 million unemployed people are also the lowest figure since 2008. Compared to February, it remains stable in agriculture, industry and construction and decreases by 31,294 unemployed in the services sector. If compared with the year-on-year figure, male unemployment fell by 49,491 people, 4.33% less than a year ago, and female unemployment fell by 85,766, 4.99% less, according to the State Public Employment Service.
In total, compared to the previous month, unemployment has decreased by 33,405 people. It is the fourth year in negative numbers, which consolidates the trend of reduction in unemployment, interrupted by the coronavirus crisis in this month of March. Last year, from January to February, unemployment decreased by more than 48,700 people and in 2022, by only 2,921.
The lowest temporary figure
“The paradigm shift in the labor market is not only reflected in the quantity, but also in the quality of employment,” said the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, who boasted of the 3.3 millions of new permanent contracts since the approval of the labor reform and “the lowest temporary employment rate in its history.” This stands, according to the latest data, at 12.7%, 1.4 points less than a year ago. “This makes our labor market reform structural and we are on the right path,” she said, before recalling that “the employment that is being generated (compared to before the pandemic) is in sectors with high added value.” ”.
“When we came to power, in our country there were 19.2 million people affiliated with Social Security. We wanted to reach 20 million. Today we have 20.9 million people affiliated, the best month since there are records,” the second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, also celebrated, who has insisted on the idea that “the good data of hiring” left by the labor reform. “Last month, 44.9% of the contracts signed were indefinite, when before it was around 10%,” she explained.
In total, in the month of March a total of 1,123,488 new contracts were signed, of which more than half a million – 504,893 – are indefinite. The 618,595 temporary contracts registered in this period represent the lowest number in this same month since 1997.
The heads of Labor and Social Security have also agreed in pointing out that the data has a woman’s face. More than half of the jobs created in the last year, 56.7%, correspond to women. There are a total of 9,598,202 female workers affiliated with Social Security, 297,948 more than in the same month of 2023.
60,000 fewer young people unemployed than in 2019
Unemployment among those under 25 years of age also represents the lowest figure in the month of March. According to the latest figures published, there were 205,007 young people unemployed, 10,000 fewer than a year ago and more than 60,000 fewer than in March 2019, before the pandemic. Those under 30 are also those who have benefited the most from the reduction in temporary employment that has been experienced after the labor reform. They are 19.4% of working people, compared to 53% before the standard was approved.
By autonomous community, where the most jobs have been created compared to the month of March 2023, it has been in Madrid, with 128,529 more affiliates (3.64% more); Catalonia, with 93,977 new jobs (2.58% more); Andalusia, with 65,312 positions (1.96%); and the Valencian Community, with 61,039 new members (2.95%). However, in relative terms, it has been the Balearic and Canary Islands that have experienced the greatest boost, with 4.2% and 3.84% more members than a year ago.
Regarding unemployment, it has only increased by 926 people in Euskadi and 701 in the Community of Madrid. Meanwhile, in the rest it has decreased: with 11,374 fewer unemployed in Andalusia; 4,686 less in the Canary Islands; and 3,998 less in the Valencian Community in the lead.
“The labor market data in our country is the best in decades,” said Díaz, who has assured that the Executive is not satisfied: “As long as there is only one person who wants to work and cannot do it, we are not going to stop. Contrary to what many thought, we have been demonstrating that improving the rights of workers in Spain manages to increase employment and boosts the economy.”
The Minister of Social Security has gone beyond the numbers and that “psychological barrier” of the 21 million affiliates with seasonally adjusted data that is surpassed “for the first time in history”: “They are citizens, they are people, they are young, They are women, they are middle-aged workers who are contributing to social security. This great news is the result of a shared effort and a useful policy on the part of the Government of Spain.”
Source: www.eldiario.es
