Number of people in work stood at more than 19.6 million in first quarter

USPA NEWS - The number of people in work fell by 285,600 in the first quarter of the year to place the unemployment rate at 14.41% as a result of the effects of COVID-19. In year-on-year terms, the positive trend of the Spanish economy in previous quarters allowed the number of people in work to rise by 210,000 and unemployment to fall by 41,300 over the last 12 months.

The number of people in work in the first quarter of the year amounted to 19,681,300, according to the Labour Force Survey (Spanish acronym: EPA), published on Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (Spanish acronym: INE). The number of people unemployed stands at 3,313,000 and the unemployment rate at 14.41%.

The number of people in work has risen by 210,100 over the last 12 months, a year-on-year increase of 1.08%. The number of people in work dropped by 285,600 in the first quarter, down 1.43%, as a result of the economic effects of COVID-19. The number of people unemployed has fallen by 41,300 in the last year, a year-on-year decline of 1.23%, but rose by 121,000 people in the first quarter, up 3.79%. The positive trend of the Spanish economy over the last few quarters meant that people in work grew and that unemployment continued to fall over the last year.

Fewer temporary and part-time jobs

Over the last 12 months, 107,900 jobs were created in the services sector, and 60,800 in the industrial sector, while 54,900 jobs were shed in the agricultural sector and 3,600 in the construction sector. In the first quarter of the year, almost all sectors of activity were affected by COVID-19 and there was a drop in the number of people in work, particularly in the services sector, with 275,900 jobs lost.

In year-on-year terms, jobs were created in almost all autonomous regions; however, in the last quarter, jobs were only created in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, while the largest falls took place in the Balearic Islands, with 67,000 jobs lost, the Region of Valencia, which lost 32,000 and Andalusia, which lost 28,900.

In year-on-year terms, the number of workers on a permanent employment contract rose by 293,500 to a total of 12,417,500. In contrast, temporary employment fell by 91,100 people over the year to a total of 4,142,600. This decline in temporary employment was even steeper in the first quarter of the year, with a reduction of 255,300 (down 5.8%), compared with a decline of 30,700 in permanent employment (down 0.25%).

The number of full-time jobs over the last year increased by 262,600, up 1.58% while part-time jobs fell by 52,500 (down 1.81%). The quarter-on-quarter figures show that the reduction in full-time work, down 1.11%, was smaller than the reduction in part-time work, down 3.28%.

By gender, the decline in the number of women in work in the first quarter stood at 1.51%, compared with a decline of 1.36% in men in work, although the number of women in work still remains above the figure of 9 million.

The unemployment rate stands at 14.41%

The number of people unemployed has fallen by 41,300 in the last year, to stand at 3,313,000, down 1.23%. In the first quarter of the year, unemployment rose by 121,000 (up 3.79%) to place the unemployment rate at 14.41%.

By region, the largest rises in quarter-on-quarter terms in the number of people unemployed were recorded in the Balearic Islands, with 49,200 more unemployed, the Region of Madrid, up 20,600 and Castile-La Mancha, up 3,500. In contrast, slight declines were recorded in unemployment in the Basque Country, down 4,500, the Canary Islands, down 2,100 and Navarre, down 1,900. By sector, unemployment rose in the last quarter in services, with 172,800 more people out of work, and in industry, up 15,100. In contrast, it fell in agriculture, down 19,700 and construction, down 9,600.