Spain maintains the highest unemployment rate in the EU despite record affiliation

The record affiliation data and the messages that full employment in Spain is an achievable goal continue to contrast with the stubborn European reality. Despite the progress, the country has a long way to go and continues to lead the unemployment ranking, with an unemployment rate almost double that registered in the EU.

According to data published today by Eurostat, the Spanish unemployment rate stood at 11.7% in June, two tenths less than a month earlier and one point less than in the same month of the previous year. It is still above the Greek, which was 11.1%, also two tenths less than in May, but 1.2 points less than a year ago.

These two countries are by far the ones that suffer the most from this problem, at a time when unemployment in the EU and in the euro zone is consolidating at levels below those of 2008. The rate in the EU has dropped to 5, 9%, two tenths less than a year ago, and in the euro zone it is 6.4%, three tenths less.

Spain, which is standing out, on the other hand, in economic growth and in containing inflation, incorporated more than 600,000 people into the labor market in the second quarter of the year, which raised the number of active workers above the record of 21 million, according to the latest data from the EPA.

However, it still has 2.79 million unemployed, according to Eurostat, a quarter of the 10.81 million in the euro zone, where the figures are also falling. In the EU there are 12.8 million unemployed, of which 2.17 million are in France and 1.8 million in Italy. In one year, according to these statistics, Spain has cut them by about 150,000.

Malta, Poland and the Czech Republic, with rates between 2.6% and 2.7%, are the EU countries with the least unemployment. In Germany it is 3%, in Portugal 6.4%, in France 7.1% and in Italy 7.4%.

Spain also leads the youth unemployment ranking, with a rate of 27.4% among those under 25, compared to 29% a year ago. In 2013 it exceeded 55% and, despite falling substantially, it is still ahead of Greece, with 23.6%. In April of this year, Greece was barely two tenths away from replacing Spain in this particular classification.

The XXVI Infoempleo Adecco report, published today, shows that only 28% of companies have implemented a strategy to promote youth employment in the last year, despite the fact that one of the issues that worries them the most is the lack of generational renewal. 35.76% believe that they will have problems replacing employees who retire.