Unemployment rises again in January after eleven months of decline

BarcelonaThe labour market seems to be returning to the usual behaviour it had before the pandemic broke out. After eleven consecutive months of decline, unemployment has risen again in January, a month in which it traditionally does as many contracts from the Christmas season come to an end. The increase in unemployment has been 2,644 people in Catalonia (0.72%) and 17,173 people in Spain (0.55%).

The data, however, is much better than a year ago, when unemployment figures were out of control due to the covid crisis. Specifically, in Catalonia there are 136,279 (-26.82%) fewer unemployed than in the same month of 2021. In fact, in absolute figures it is the best January since 2008, when the banking crisis broke out.

Record number of permanent contracts

The most positive data this January, according to figures from the Ministry of Labour published on Wednesday, is that it has been the best month since records began in terms of permanent contracts, without taking into account the conversions of temporary contracts. Specifically, 238,672 permanent contracts have been registered in the State, which represent 15% of the total 1,600,000 signed last month.

The increase in unemployment is due to the fall in jobs in the service sector and, to a lesser extent, in agriculture. On the other hand, unemployment decreased slightly in construction and industry.

By gender, unemployment continues to hit women harder, as the number of unemployed women increased (0.96%) compared to December. On the other hand, it fell slightly among men.