Catalonia breaks occupation records and nears 4 million affiliates

BarcelonaThe Catalan labor market has flourished during the month of April, with Easter in between. Catalonia reached the highest number of affiliates since 2004, the start of the historical series, with an average of 3.92 million people registered with Social Security. According to data from the Spanish government, elaborated from the records of the Ministry of Social Security, Catalonia added almost 77,000 employed people this April compared to last year – a 2% increase – and more than 38,000 since March – a 0.99% increase.

In parallel, Catalonia also registered the smallest number of people unemployed since June 2008, although there have been other years in which the reduction compared to the previous month has been more pronounced. April closed with 314,527 unemployed people, 11,190 fewer than last year, a decrease of 3.44%. Likewise, it is the second autonomous community with the most reduction compared to the month of March, with almost 9,000 fewer unemployed people (a reduction of 2.77%).

The improvement in employment and the reduction in those registered on the lists of employment services are two trends since April 2021. The Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Miquel Sàmper, has underlined that the decrease in unemployment "occurs in all productive sectors, in the four demarcations and exactly the same between men and women". Likewise, he has highlighted "in a very special way" the reduction in unemployment among young people under 25 years of age, by 11%.

Contrast with the EPA

The data provided by the Spanish government contrasts with the results of the Active Population Survey (EPA) of the first quarter, when unemployment grew in Catalonia by 24%, in the worst start to the year since 2009. Jordi Garcia, professor of labor law at the University of Barcelona (UB), explained to el ARA that the difference is due to the use of different methodologies: while the EPA is based on a survey, the ministry's data is based on the number of registered contracts and unemployment. According to Garcia, experts have been discussing the divergence between the two methods for decades and argues that "it would be desirable for us all to speak the same language."

The EPA is the data that is used for studies on a European scale, and for this UB professor, it has "more scientific quality." He argues that "most people will not be able to find the unemployment office closer to their home" and that the public service methodology

Records in the State

The labor market for the entire State also broke records in the month of April. Employment reached a maximum of 22.1 million people affiliated with Social Security, an increase of 2.4% compared to last year and 1.02% since March. In this context, Sàmper has boasted that Catalonia surpasses the Community of Madrid in number of workers for the "second consecutive month".

Likewise, for the entire State, unemployment fell by 62,668 people (-2.59%) and, for the first time since June 2008, it stood below 2.4 million unemployed people.

The Spanish government has highlighted that figures among young people under 25 and among women are hitting lows. April was the month with the fewest young people registered on the employment services lists in the entire historical series, 169,693 people. Likewise, female unemployment was the lowest since September 2008, with 1.42 million women registered.

More temporality

Trade unions have warned of the contrast between the EPA data and registered unemployment figures. While UGT de Catalunya has warned that the Iran crisis "will be reflected in the coming months" in the labor market, CCOO de Catalunya has linked this April's boom to seasonality. The union led by Belén López has called for "adopting a broader temporal perspective" to determine "what the trend in the labor market is, whether it is the one shown by the EPA or that of registered unemployment data".

Employers' associations have also highlighted the impact of Holy Week and the start of the tourist season on the health of the April labor market. Pimec has highlighted "the link with seasonality" of the data and Foment del Treball has framed the increase in affiliation and the decrease in registered unemployment "in a context clearly conditioned by the start of the tourist season".

In fact, the majority of contracts signed during the month of April were temporary, both in Catalonia (56.36%) and in Spain as a whole (56.8%). García has pointed out that temporality has been progressively increasing, after the drop caused by the 2022 labor reform.

The increase in this type of contract compared to last year in Catalonia practically tripled the increase in permanent contracts. Broadly speaking, while this April 19,100 more temporary contracts were signed than a year ago, only 6,300 more permanent contracts were signed. The increase in temporary contracts (19.1%) practically triples that of permanent ones (7.38%).

In relative terms – that is, according to those signed last year – in Spain as a whole, temporary contracts grew less than in Catalonia as a whole. Nevertheless, the trend at the state level is similar: the creation of permanent contracts rose by 7.02% and temporary ones by 12.91%.