Employment continues to show its resilience and the summer has closed with good data and even better than expected. Employment continued to be created in the third quarter of the year, with a record total number of employed people and also peaks in the active population, which explains the apparent paradox that these data are combined with an increase in unemployment. In conclusion, employment continues to grow, although it moderates compared to the excellent first half of the year, and also notes this increase in unemployment.
Specifically, from July to September there was an increase of more than 209,000 jobs, which brings the total number of employed to a new record, with 21.26 million people. If the psychological barrier of 21 million employed people was broken in the second quarter of the year, the upward trend has been maintained between July and September, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA ) published yesterday. This increase in employment is higher than usual in the third quarter of the year, as can be seen when comparing it with the average for this same period in the years before the pandemic, which remains at an increase of 174,000 employed.
One of the keys to the quarter is the active population, which includes both people with jobs and those who are actively looking for one, and which this time has increased by more than 300,000. In this way, it exceeds 24.1 million, which means setting a new record in this area. This increase in the active population is what explains why, despite the increase in employment, the unemployment rate also rose, standing at 11.84%, two tenths more than the previous quarter. It is the explanation for an increase, although it does not hide the fact that the Spanish unemployment rate remains one of the worst in Europe, an already endemic evil.
In total, there are 92,700 more unemployed in the period from July to September, up to a total of 2,855,200. This increase in the number of unemployed is the largest in a third quarter since 2020. Simplifying, it can be said that in the summer 300,000 more people signed up to look for work, of which 209,000 found and 92,000 went unemployed.
Going into the details of the EPA data, it is observed that it is the private sector that has created the most employment between July and September, with 192,000 more workers, while in the public sector the increase is 17,000 jobs work The improvement in the quality of employment is also appreciated. There are 1.1 million more permanent contracts in the last year, a drop in the temporary rate to 17.2% and more full-time contracts.
Another significant fact is that even though employment has increased especially in the service sector (138,000 more people), it is logical this time, and it is precisely here that the moderation in the rate of job creation is noticeable. It is followed by industry (99,000), which was negative in the period from April to June and has now been positive, and construction (19,000). On the other hand, employment has decreased in agriculture, with a loss of 27,000 jobs.
“The role of foreigners is highlighted, both in the increase in the active population and in employment”, points out María Jesús Fernández, from Funcas. Specifically, the statistics show that the increase in employment in the summer was mainly concentrated among foreigners. Of 209,000 new jobs, 146,000 correspond to foreigners, and 62,000 to Spaniards. María Jesús Fernández also adds that “it is good growth, despite the fact that the third quarter is slower than the rates that were maintained in the first and second”.
By autonomous regions, where employment grows the most in absolute terms is in the Valencian Community (80,700 more employed), Catalonia (62,400) and the Balearic Islands (35,200), which leads in the percentage comparison over the last quarter, with an increase in employment of 5.5%. On the opposite side are the Community of Madrid (-15,700 employed), Andalusia (-3,800) and the Basque Country (-2,800), although La Rioja suffered the biggest percentage reduction (-0.61%).
The Ministry of Economy described the data as “good evolution of the labor market, despite the complex international context”.
