Spain destroyed 215,000 jobs in January and unemployment increased by 70,000 people due to the economic slowdown
the Labor market He confirmed in January that the effects of the economic slowdown and slower pace of activity were now also showing in employment. Spain destroyed 215,047 jobs in the first month of the year, an increase of 15,000 over the same month last year, while unemployment increased by 70,744 people, which is four times higher than last year, thus breaking the strong expansionary cycle that It started after the pandemic.
All in all, social security affiliation is in 20,081,224 contributors While unemployment listings add up to the total 2,908,397 are unemployedtouching the psychological barrier of 3 million lowered in May last year.
In this regard, it should be noted that although Job lost January is much higher than that of the last fiscal year, and it is also true that the 215,000 job losses are in line with those recorded in other typical years – in 2020 just before the pandemic, 244,044 were lost in January and in 2021 another 218,953-. Similarly, although the increase in unemployment is greater than the 17,000 unemployed added in 2022 at this time, it is less than the 76,000 unemployed registered in 2021 or the 90,000 in 2020.
Although, with compared to January 2022Registered unemployment decreased by 214,681 people (-6.87%) and Social Security enrollment decreased by 454,063 more than last year.
The end of the Christmas season
However, the figures published Thursday by the ministries Action s Social security They came to confirm the exhaustion of the labor market at the end of last year, which was revealed by the recently published Active Population Survey for the end of 2022. Moreover, it confirms the omens that 2023 will leave smaller figures for job creation. More than it already is, it is pulling side effects from last year’s strong price increase that will continue into the coming months.
Breaking down the published numbers, then, allows us to estimate how much of the adjustment is due to the termination of contracts associated with the Christmas season. By economic sectors, compared to December, registered unemployment decreased in the construction sector – -3,111 (-1.37%), and was hardly changed in industry, where the number of unemployed increased by 408 (0.17%), and increased by services in 70,759 people (3.51%) and in agriculture, 1,457 (1.29%). Among the group without a previous job, it increased by 1,231 (0.50%).
For its part, the largest decline in employment was observed in commerce, where the number of jobs decreased by 39,600 jobs Hospitality with 43,100 fewer shareholders Between December and January, administrative activities lost 42,000 jobs, health services with 17,000 fewer members and public administration which lost 12,500 workers.
temporary minimum
On the other hand, the two ministries led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Yolanda Diaz and Minister of Social Security Jose Luis Escrivá highlighted the sharp decline in the unemployment rate. Temporal On new appointments, regardless of the position discussed for regular, intermittent employees.
In January, the percentage of affiliates with a temporary contract fell to record low by 15% (Before the reform the average was 30%). In the case of those under 30, temporary employment decreased by 30 points, from 53% to 23%. There are 2.3 million more members on an indefinite contract now than in December 2021, the last month before the reform goes into effect. And three in four under the age of 30 now have a permanent contract (77%), compared to one in two before the reform (47% on average 2017-2021).
Specifically, the total number of registered contracts During January it was 1,200,749 and it maintains the trend of stability. Of this number, there are 530,306 employment contracts of indefinite nature, representing 44.16% of all contracts. Thus, in January 2023, 1,006,285 fewer temporary contracts were signed than in January 2019.
