Unemployment indicators return to give good news for Spain. This time, the positive information has come from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which indicates that the The unemployment rate in our country fell in November 2022 to 12.4%, that is, one tenth if compared to the 12.5% in October. As Bankinter pointed out at the end of the year, the unemployment rate stood at 12.67% in the third quarter of 2022, a good result when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, when it was 13.78%. despite corresponding to a pre-pandemic period.
When entering the analysis by sex, the OECD values the drop in female unemployment, as this indicator fell slightly, to 14.7%, although the male indicator continues to be better, with 10.3%. Regarding one of the burdens of recent decades for our economy and society, youth unemployment, the organization indicates that this stood at 32.3% in November, therefore without variation since October. Therefore, this continues to be one of the headaches for Spaniards, since in the second quarter unemployment among young people stood at 28.3% and increased in the third quarter to 31.4%.
With greater potential than the OECD in activity
Regarding the occupancy rate in Spain, it remains stable at 64.7% during the third quarter of 2022, although it is still below the OECD average of 69.4%. For its part, the activity rate fell one tenth compared to the previous quarter to 74.1%, but this data is better than the OECD average, since the indicator in this case stands at 73.2%. This means that in our country there is potential for improvement in the employment data, since the occupancy rate It is measured as the employed population as a percentage of the population of working age.
Thus, and according to Bankinter’s analysis department, for 2023 and 2024, improving productivity will be one of the keys to the future, in an environment of slowdown and high costs, which makes net job creation difficult. The labor market continues to show strength compared to GDPwhich despite being good news a priori, makes the productivity data in Spain uncomfortable, one of our pending duties in economic matters.
On the other hand, when looking at the global panorama, it can be seen that the male employment rate decreased for the first time in two years, to 76.6%, while the female has increased to 62.4%, which shows a slight improvement in the inequality gap, despite the road that still remains to be traveled.
Likewise, the unemployment rate in the OECD member countries remained at 4.9% in November 2022, thus resulting in the fifth consecutive month that this record low has been recorded since 2001. Similarly, female unemployment fell slightly up to 5.1% and male unemployment remained stable at 4.7%, while youth unemployment stood at 10.8%.
The OECD is made up of a total of 34 member countrieswhich are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.
