The unemployment rate has dropped to 11.27%, the lowest in almost 16 years, and female employment and permanent employment have reached new historical highs
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Unemployment fell by 222,600 people in the second quarter of the year, which is almost 7.5% less than in the previous quarter, while employment increased by 434,700 jobs (+2%), reaching a new high of almost 21.7 million people, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported on Friday.
At the end of June, the total number of unemployed people stood at 2,755,300, the lowest figure since the third quarter of 2008, with the unemployment rate at 11.27%, the lowest in almost 16 years, with a drop of more than one point in the last quarter. At the same time, the number of employed people reached a new historical high, with 21,684,700 workers.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business has highlighted that the EPA data for the second quarter “confirm the historic performance of employment, with record figures for employment and also for the active population”, which increased by 212,100 people between April and June, reaching 24.4 million, “which demonstrates the confidence of workers in the dynamism of the labour market”.
The drop in unemployment in the second quarter of this year is lower than that recorded in the same period in 2023 (-365,300 unemployed) and 2022 (-255,300), but exceeds that recorded in 2021, when it fell by 110,100 people.
In terms of employment, the number of jobs created in the second quarter of this year is lower than in the same period in 2023, when more than 600,000 jobs were created, but it exceeds that of 2022, which was just over 383,000 jobs.
In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment rose by 1.1%, its first increase since the third quarter of 2020, while employment rose by 0.37% and has now accumulated 16 consecutive quarters of increases.
Between April and June, the activity rate rose by almost three-tenths, to 58.9%, after the number of active people increased by 212,100 compared to the previous quarter (+0.9%).
The number of inactive people, which in the first quarter of this year had exceeded 17 million people for the first time since the pandemic, fell by 41,600 people in the second quarter (-0.2%), to 17,057,000 inactive people.
In the last year, unemployment has been reduced by 52,900 people (-1.9%) and 426,300 jobs have been created (+2%), while the volume of active people has increased by 373,300 people (+1.5%).
NEW MAXIMUM OF PERMANENT WORKERS
According to the INE, the number of employees increased by 377,100 people in the second quarter (+2.09%), with an increase in permanent employment of 272,000 people (+1.8), reaching almost 15.5 million workers, a new historical high, and an increase in temporary employment of 105,100 employees (+3.7%).
The temporary employment rate thus stood at 15.95%, two-tenths higher than in the previous quarter.
The Department headed by Carlos Cuerpo has highlighted “the great dynamism of the private sector”, which in the second quarter exceeded 18 million employees for the first time, having created more than 98% of jobs between April and June.
Specifically, the private sector created 427,800 jobs in the second quarter (+2.4%), bringing the total to 18,126,800, while the public sector increased its jobs by 6,900, 0.2% more than the previous quarter, bringing the total to 3.55 million employed.
The number of full-time employees increased by 433,500 people between April and June (+2.4%), while the number of part-time employees increased by 1,200 (+0.04%), reaching 2.94 million people.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, WOMEN EXCEED 10 MILLION EMPLOYED WOMEN
The fall in unemployment in the second quarter affected both sexes, although women to a greater extent. Specifically, male unemployment fell by 109,200 men (-7.7%), compared to a decrease in female unemployment of 113,400 women (-7.2%). With these figures, the female unemployment rate fell by 1.1 points, to 12.61%, while the male rate fell by nine-tenths, to 10.08%.
Likewise, job creation in the second quarter was higher among women. Thus, while men gained 202,600 jobs between April and June (+1.8%), female employment increased by 232,100 workers (+2.3%), exceeding 10 million employed women for the first time (10,089,100).
Statistics show that the rise in employment in the second quarter was concentrated among Spaniards, among whom 304,900 jobs were created (+1.7%), compared to an increase in employment among foreigners of 129,700 jobs (+4.2%).
Spaniards also led the decline in unemployment: while there were 166,900 fewer Spaniards unemployed in the second quarter (-7.3%), there were 55,700 fewer unemployed foreigners (-7.8%).
SERVICES LEAD THE DECLINE IN UNEMPLOYMENT AND JOB CREATION
By sector, unemployment fell in the second quarter in all sectors and rose among those seeking their first job (+14,900 unemployed). The largest decrease in unemployment was recorded in the services sector, with 190,500 fewer unemployed than in the previous quarter (-15.3%), followed by the group of long-term unemployed (-17,600); construction (-12,900); industry (-9,300) and agriculture (-7,300).
Job creation in the second quarter affected all sectors. The biggest rise in employment was also seen in services, with 304,000 more jobs (+1.9%), followed by industry (+63,400 jobs, +2.2%); construction (+61,100 jobs, +4.3%), and agriculture, which added 6,100 jobs between April and June (+0.8%).
According to the EPA for the second quarter, the number of self-employed workers increased by 58,300 people (+1.8%) compared to the previous quarter, which placed the total number of self-employed workers at 3,238,000 people. However, in the last year, the group has decreased by 14,900 self-employed workers (-0.4%).
EFFECTIVE HOURS WORKED PER WEEK INCREASE
In the second quarter, the total number of effective weekly hours worked by all employed persons rose by 3.6% year-on-year to 701.89 million hours worked, compared with 677.35 million a year earlier.
The average number of effective hours worked per week rose by 1.2% year-on-year to 33.5 hours, compared with 33.1 hours in the second quarter of 2023.
In the second quarter of the year, 1,641,000 employed people worked from home more than half of the days, which is 108,900 more than in the second quarter of 2023 and the equivalent of 7.6% of the total number of employed people. This percentage reached over 16% at the start of the pandemic.
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