Unemployment falls by 11,000 people in July to a new minimum since 2008

The data published this Wednesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security thus follow the usual path of a month like July, positive for both employment and unemployment, without being buoyant. As in job creation, the fall in unemployment is somewhat lower than that traditionally registered in the months of July, at a time when the labor market is reaching the highest levels of workers in its history, around 21 million .

That historical maximum of 21 million, already reached according to the Active Population Survey (EPA), has not yet been exceeded in terms of affiliation to Social Security, which, however, is also in record numbers. The average number of workers in July stood at 20.9 million people registered. Specifically, 20,891,885.

If we look back a year, registered unemployment has fallen by 205,938 people (-7.14%). “This percentage decrease reflects a very intense drop given the stable conditions in which our labor market moves, in which the effects of the labor reform are consolidated,” highlights the Ministry of Labor, which stresses that unemployment among young people under 25 years of age “marks a new historical minimum with 184,038” people.

“It is the lowest figure in the entire historical series”, highlighted Yolanda Díaz this morning, who recalled that although Spain continues to lead the EU in youth unemployment, it is closing this gap. “With the PP the differential was 14 points, now it is 5 points,” she stated.

As for the employment created in the last year, it reaches more than half a million people, 550,921 workers on average. Thus, the interannual growth rate “accelerates to 2.7% in the month of July, one tenth more than the previous month”, highlights the Social Security.

The improvement in employment compared to June, marked by a bad July 2022, is also reflected in the seasonally adjusted employment data – which isolates fluctuations typical of seasonal elements – that the Ministry of José Luis Escrivá uses to measure the evolution of the market of work. In June this data was negative, with 20,000 fewer jobs, but in July the indicator returned to green, with 16,300 more workers.

From the Social Security they emphasize that the increase in employment of 464,350 people in the first seven months of the year, in seasonally adjusted terms, is “the highest growth in the January-July period of the series, with the exception of 2005, conditioned by the extraordinary process of regularization” of migrants.

Job creation has been lower in recent months, slower compared to a start to the year that exceeded expectations. The CEOE employers have celebrated the “good” data for the month of July, especially in the private sector, but recalled that “the forecasts foresee a certain slowdown in the Spanish economy that will become more evident after the summer, due to the tensions geopolitical factors, the impact of restrictive monetary policy and inflation on consumption and investment by Spanish families and companies, and the increase in business costs, which may affect employment, as is already being seen in the industry”.

The majority unions, CCOO and UGT, for their part, have highlighted the most positive notes, such as the maximum employment, the minimum unemployment in 15 years and the greater stability of the labor market after the labor reform.

Employment falls in education, rises in hospitality

As is also common in summer and particularly in this month, July suffered a great destruction of employment in the educational field. This sector lost almost 111,000 workers on average in the General Scheme (where the vast majority of wage earners are gathered), 10% of all Social Security affiliates, in line with what happened in previous years.

Last year, the education sector contracted even more, with 115,528 jobs in the General Regime compared to the previous month, 11% of the total.

So, the employment balance for July 2022 was worse, with a net balance of average job destruction, in a year in which this loss was not offset by the creation of jobs in other sectors, something that has happened in this july

Among the activities that pulled the most employment in July were commerce and hospitality, in the middle of the tourist season as a result of the summer holidays, with 41,000 more workers in the first case (+1.6%) and almost 24,000 more in the second (+1.5%). There was also job creation in artistic and creative activities, +3%, another of the sectors that increase their activity in summer.

In addition, the incorporation of health personnel was notable, with 50,000 more workers, something also frequent as a result of personnel substitutions in summer.

On the contrary, there was a slight destruction of employment in construction, in some 1,900 workers, a sector that suffers from heat waves.

In the last year, the employment boom in sectors known as “high added value” stands out, such as Scientific and Technical Professional Activities, which lead with an increase of 6%, which translates into 53,000 more workers, and Information and Communications, with just over 37,000 (+6%). This boost is considered good news due to the greater productivity of these activities and –in principle– better working conditions.

In terms of contracting, there is a reduction in new subscribers, 1.4 million, which represents a drop of 13.5% compared to 2022.

The labor market has been marked since 2022 by the transformation brought about by the labor reform of reduction of temporary jobs and the rise of permanent jobs, as had never happened before. The last months of the summer, with more seasonal employment, the temporary employment rate –temporary workers over the total– has increased slightly, reaching 15.2% last month.

If we look at the territorial map, a generalized job creation is reflected in the last year, with some differences and with one exception: the province of Jaén.