The labor market slows in the latter part of the year, with the destruction of more than 80,000 jobs not seen since 2013, an unemployment rate close to 13% and agency work at the very least
Employment slowdown after two years of strong momentum. The resilience that the labor market had shown after the pandemic, which continued against all odds despite the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the rise of the price and supply crisis, faded in the latter part of the year and employment blamed the economic uncertainty already exists worldwide. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2022, 81,900 jobs were destroyed, the worst numbers since 2013, in the middle of the Great Recession, while the number of unemployed rose by more than 43,800 people, a figure not seen since 2012. according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) released this Thursday by the INE.
It took Spain twelve years to bring unemployment below the psychological threshold of three million unemployed, but this joy has lasted only two quarters: 2022 will close again with 3,024,000 unemployed, while the unemployment rate is almost 13% on 12.87%.
Similarly, the sharp slowdown in employment, whose creation rate falls to 1.38%, compared to a rate of more than 4% at the beginning of the year, means that the number of people in work falls below 20.5 million, a barrier that was crossed again after 14 years the previous quarter. However, this is the highest year-end number of people employed since the burst of the housing bubble.
The global data for the year also confirms the marked slowdown in employment: 2022 closed with the creation of more than 278,900 jobs, almost half of those of 2021; and with unemployment reduced by 80,000 people, seven times less than a year ago. Of course, the year of the labor reform saw a drastic 7-point fall in temporary agency work, dropping the rate to an all-time low of 17.93%, bringing Spain closer to the European average. This is due to the fact that permanent contracts registered a new maximum with more than 14.3 million employees on a permanent contract, thanks to a historic increase of almost 1.6 million after the entry into force of the new law, as highlighted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
In addition, the active population (the number of people of age and willingness to work) continued to grow remarkably, with nearly 200,000 people over the year, approaching the maximum of 23.5 million workers.
“These data show that the Spanish economy continued to create jobs and reduce unemployment in a year marked by an international environment of high uncertainty due to the Russian war in Ukraine,” emphasizes the Ministry of Economy in a declassified note.
Most of the jobs created last year were full-time, with an increase of 235,200 people over the past year, well above the 43,700 part-time jobs, bringing the rate to 13.59%. However, full-time employment experienced a strong destruction in the fourth quarter of the year, with 241,500 fewer people, while part-time employment increased by almost 160,000
Employment grew in all sectors over the past year, except agriculture, which recorded a fall of 86,900 employed persons. The sector in which employment increased the most was the services sector, with 314,300 more employees, followed by manufacturing with 36,600 and construction with 14,900.
Employment increased in most regions, except for Asturias (-15,100), the Basque Country (-7,700) and Aragon (-5,000). The increases occurred in the Valencian Community, with 102,700 more employees, the Canary Islands (52,800) and the Balearic Islands (33,800).
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.
