The unemployment rate of this group rises above 30%, with 540,000 young people out of work, doubling the European average
Despite the strength and resilience shown by the Spanish labor market at a time of crisis and economic uncertainty, the major Achilles’ heel remains high unemployment, which is on track to become entrenched and represents a “serious short- and medium-term problem” . term”, especially serious for young people. The employers of temporary employment agencies Asempleo announced this in a statement on Thursday.
For example, youth unemployment in this last quarter, far from falling, rose significantly to 540,000 people. Spain added 72,000 unemployed under 25 in one quarter, meaning that almost one in five unemployed is young (18.1%).
The gender gap also affects unemployment in this group with a difference of more than four percentage points, although in this case the opposite: it affects women less than men. In concrete terms, men under the age of 25 represent 20.6% of the total number of unemployed men, a percentage that is rising and has not been reached since 2009. , returning to 2013 levels in the middle of the financial crisis.
Despite the fact that the weight of this group is smaller than at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis, the number of unemployed is higher. While men under the age of 25 reached 217,000 unemployed in the third quarter of 2007, the number is currently 276,000. For their part, women under the age of 25 registered 244,000 unemployed in 2007 and now, in the same period in 2022, there are 264,000.
“The tailwinds that drove the employment recovery have stopped, and this is becoming more apparent in the dynamics of certain groups such as the long-term unemployed, the over-45s or youth unemployment,” warns Asempleo.
In this way, Spain is once again recording a youth unemployment rate of more than 30%, a trend that has been slowly decreasing over the past two years, a sign of the weakening seen since the beginning of September, according to this report.
For example, the current youth unemployment rate in Spain, despite falling from ceilings above 50% to 31%, is 13 percentage points higher than at the start of the 2008 crisis, leaving the current crisis with the same unemployment structure as in previous crises. In addition, it is the highest in Europe and doubles the community average.
“This shows the lack of jobs and job opportunities for young Spaniards, a scarce or inefficient employment policy and a low use of new talent who end up looking outside for what they cannot find within our borders,” Asempleo denounces, who emphasizes that there is a “big step” between what the job market demands and what our young people are preparing for.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
