Healthplan Spain

HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

Spain Registers Record Fall In Unemployment With Numbers Returning To Pre-Pandemic Levels Spain News

Official figures published by Spain’s Ministry of Labour on Tuesday show that the country registered its largest recorded annual fall in unemployment in December.

The data shows that there was a drop of 20.12% in 2021 compared to the previous year with 782,232 more people finding work meaning that the country’s labour market has now recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The last month of 2021 ended with a drop of 76,782 in relation to November marking a record-breaking tenth consecutive month of decreases in unemployment. It represents the longest period of decrease with 902,884 more people back in work.

It means that there are 3,105,905 people still out of work, however, this is the lowest December total since 2007 with 140,142 fewer people unemployed since the pandemic began in February 2020.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez (pictured), was upbeat about the news and took to social media to voice his approval.

Unemployment falls and has already chained 10 consecutive months of declines, something that had not happened in the entire historical series.

Once again, the data reflects the progress of Spain’s recovery. We will not stop. We work to combat precariousness and continue creating quality employment,” he said.

Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s Labour Minister also welcomed the news via her Twitter account saying, “The reduction in unemployment in 2021 is unprecedented in the historical series: unemployment has been reduced among young people, women, in the Autonomous Communities and in the different sectors, especially in services. Protection and decent work is a guarantee for the future.

Unemployment by sector

All of Spain’s sectors saw a positive decline in the number of unemployed.

The number of registered unemployed within the Services sector fell by 64,809 (-2.88%).

Agriculture saw 4,530 more people in work (-3.02%), with those Without Previous Employment falling by 6.13% with 16,702 more finding work.

Another 7,505 people found work within Construction with a further 1,754 gaining employment within the Industry sector.

Unemployment by autonomous community

Registered unemployment in December 2021 fell in all 16 Autonomous Communities. The biggest decreases were recorded in the Community of Madrid (-24,380), the Valencian Community (-18,242) and Andalusia (-14,607).

In year-on-year terms, unemployment decreased considerably in all of Spain’s autonomous communities.

Unemployment by sex

Unemployment in females saw the biggest fall in December with 64,225 finding work down 3.40% on November. The latest figures mean that there are still 1,824,032 women unemployed.

The number of unemployed males fell by 12,557 down 0.97% with a total of 1,281,873 still out of work.

Youth unemployment

One sector that Spain has struggled with is youth unemployment, however, the latest figures show that this group also saw a very positive decrease in December.

The latest government data shows that the number of people under the age of 25 finding work increased by 22,848 compared to November representing a fall in unemployment of 9.31%.

Over the past 10 months, 143,809 people within this group have managed to find employment, bringing the total number of under 25s unemployed to 222,594.

Source

https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/trabajo14/Paginas/2022/040122-paro-diciembre.aspx

Image Credit: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa