Unemployment fell by 1,200 people in the Valencian Community in the third quarter of the year compared to the second quarter, 0.38%, to 310,200, while the number of employed people increased by 80,700, 3.60%, the highest increase in Spain, and places the figure at 2,321,300.
According to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the unemployment rate in the Valencian Community stands at 11.79%, slightly lower than the state average (11 .84%).
Across Spain, the number of unemployed has increased by 92,700 people (3.36%) in the third quarter and stands at 2,855,200, while the number of employed people has increased by 209,100 people compared to the previous quarter (0.36%). 99%) and stands at 21,265,900.
In annual terms, the greatest reductions in the number of unemployed occur in the Valencian Community (–31,700), the Canary Islands (–25,000) and Castilla-La Mancha (–24,900), according to EPA data.
Regarding employment in the last year, almost all the autonomous communities increased it and the largest increases occurred in Catalonia (156,500), Valencian Community (130,000) and Madrid (119,300). The only decrease is recorded in Castilla y León (–2,500).
According to the EPA, in the Valencian Community there are 310,200 unemployed, of which 136,400 are men and 173,800 women; while the number of employed people amounts to 2,321,300, of which 1,255,000 are men and 1,066,300 women.
Throughout Spain, employment increases this quarter in Services (138,700 more people), in Industry (98,800) and in Construction (19,500), and decreases in Agriculture (47,800 less). In the last year, employment grew in Services (682,400 more employed), in Construction (49,600) and in Industry (15,200), and decreased in Agriculture (–27,100).
The government of the Generalitat Valenciana, the autonomous employers’ association CEV and the CCOO union have applauded the latest data from the EPA this Thursday. The general director of Labora, Antonio Galvañ, has advanced that despite the international scenario “the Valencian economic sectors have shown dynamism and resistance.”
In his opinion, these data respond to the “climate of stability and confidence” that the Consell chaired by Carlos Mazón has generated in the Community, “with economic measures that offer a panorama of certainty for the economic development of our sectors and for the attraction of investors.”
Likewise, the CEV has made a positive analysis of the latest EPA, although it has shown its concern about the evolution of activity and employment in the manufacturing sector. The employers’ association highlights that both the private sector and the public sector in the Community show greater dynamism than at the national level, although it warns about a certain “slowdown of the economy as a whole, both regional, national and global” and the consequences that could have on this trend the reduction of the working day.
For the Secretary of Employment and Institutional Policy of CCOO PV, Juan Carlos Gallart, the EPA data for the third quarter show a very positive balance. “There have never been more people employed in our autonomy,” he noted. However, he has drawn attention to the fact that “the increase in unemployment in the third quarter of 2023 is entirely concentrated in women” and has advocated “deepening the agenda of social advances” and “issues such as reduction of the working day, the regulation of part-time work or the improvement of the dismissal regime”.
