The unemployment rate increased in Catalonia above 10% in the first quarter of the year, something that had not happened for a year, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday.
The final figure is 10.37%, less than half a point above the previous 9.91%. The rate is the highest since the end of the summer of 2021, when it stood at 10.92%. The result comes after increasing unemployment by 20,000 people, bringing the total to 407,200 unemployed. It is the lowest figure for a start of the year since 2008.
Catalonia is the second autonomous community where unemployment has risen the most in absolute numbers between January and March, with Andalusia leading the way (109,700 more unemployed), and followed by the Canary Islands, with 55,900 more.
The employed have grown by 2,300, reaching 3.521 million employees. Unemployment growth and job creation can coexist because it could be that more people have gone to look for work, swelling the active population, and for the moment they do not get it, counting as unemployed. Catalonia added 22,300 people to its active population in the quarter, the second behind Andalusia (47,200).
In this sense, the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent, has attributed the increase in the unemployment rate to the increase in the active population and has denied that there is destruction of employment. “Despite being a usually bad quarter, we continue to create employment, which once again demonstrates the robustness of the Catalan economy”, he said.
The quarter has been negative at the national level, with 103,800 more unemployed and 11,100 less employed, although it is the least harmful first quarter in fifteen years.
