The labor market continues to hold up and closes 2023 on a very good note. December benefits from the winter campaign and the result is particularly positive when the year as a whole is examined. In 2023, 540,000 new jobs were created, while unemployment was reduced by 131,000 people.
These 540,000 new jobs place 2023 even above the previous year, which already obtained very positive data. In this way, a total of more than 20.8 million members of Social Security is achieved, which is the highest figure in a month of December in the entire historical series.
A magnificent story, although with a weak point: the great creation of employment is concentrated in the first part of the year and, on the other hand, since the summer the pace slows down in a measured manner with the cooling also of economic activity. Reviewing the trajectory, it appears that last year membership was lost for only three months, in January and August, always the worst, and in November, which is also usually bad.
Of the 540,000 new memberships for the year, education takes the bulk, followed at a distance by hospitality and health activities. These three sectors add up to more than half of the new jobs in 2023. On the other hand, in the opposite direction, there is agriculture, which loses 16,000 jobs.
“Given the catastrophism of the negative omens we have heard since the year began, 2023 has been very good in terms of employment and in overcoming the traditional fractures in our labor market, such as those affecting women and young people,” he said the Secretary of State for Employment, Joaquín Pérez Rey, when he presented the data.
Looking at the behavior of the last month of the year, we see that December adds 30,000 new jobs, which is double what was achieved in the same month last year, although it is true which is well below the average of the pre-pandemic years.
December is traditionally a good month in terms of employment due to the impact on the activity of the Christmas campaign, and this year it has been demonstrated once again. When the month is analyzed by sector, the increase in affiliates in trade, health activities, education and agriculture stands out, while they are lost in hospitality, construction and manufacturing industry.
In seasonally adjusted terms, that is to say, discounting the calendar and season effect, 2023 also added more than half a million affiliates, 23,000 of which in December.
“The labor market has recorded exceptionally positive behavior in 2023, with a new increase in employment in December. The increase in employment among women is particularly noteworthy, 55% of the employment created last year was female”, stated the Minister of Inclusion and Social Security, Elma Saiz.
In terms of hiring, 1,116,000 new contracts were registered in December, 414,000 of which are of an indefinite nature, which represents 37% of the total of formalized contracts, a much higher percentage than was registered before the labor reform
If 2023 is examined as a whole, there is an increase of 647,000 workers with indefinite contracts compared to the previous year, among which the vast majority are full-time, while only 5% (31,000) have the controversial contract fixed discontinuous
“The conclusion is that the consolidation of the growth of indefinite contracts is concentrated in full-time hiring”, stated Joaquín Pérez Rey. For his part, his Social Security colleague Borja Suárez emphasized that discontinuous fixed contracts have increased relatively little during the year, much less than those that are full-time. “They have stabilized”, pointed out Suárez. It was an extreme defense of the two Secretaries of State of this type of hiring, designed to deal with the high seasonality of the Spanish economy, and subject to criticism for the periods of inactivity it entails.
Regarding unemployment data, in 2023 it was reduced by 130,000 people, which makes a total number of unemployed people of 2.7 million. It is the lowest figure for the last month of the year since 2007. In December the drop was 27,000 people compared to November. It is a reduction, but it is clearly lower than that recorded in the December months of the previous two years, 2021 and 2022, when it was reduced by 76,000 and 43,000 jobs, respectively. It is also a lower reduction than the prepandemic stage. In this area, this December has been more relaxed.
By sector, in December unemployment fell especially in services, with 25,000 fewer, followed at a distance by agriculture, while it increased in construction (5,000 more unemployed) and industry. When examined by gender, a decline appears among women, while it increases very slightly among men. It also highlights that unemployment among young people under the age of 25 fell by 12,000 people, making it the lowest in the historical series, with 194,000.
