Catalonia breaks the barrier of 4 million employed

BarcelonaAffiliates in Catalonia surpassed the 4 million barrier for the first time. Specifically, according to data released this Thursday by the Ministry of Social Security, 4.01 million Catalans were registered as employed in June. Thus, compared to May, there are 37,053 more affiliates in the country, which is equivalent to an increase of 0.93%. The boost from the start of the summer campaign has thus driven the Catalan labor market to a new record; until now, it had remained above 3.9 million workers for two months. If we look at the data from a year ago, the year-on-year variation is also positive, at 2.63%, which translates to 102,763 more workers.

Regarding the volume of unemployed people, the Principality maintains a downward trend: unemployment decreased by 458 people compared to the previous month (-0.15%), and the total number of unemployed stood at 307,169. The figure for unemployed Catalans is the lowest in June since 2007. Furthermore, as indicated by the data collected by the Ministry of Labor, compared to the same month last year, in absolute terms, the number of people who cannot find work has fallen by 7,915, which represents a decrease of 2.51%.

In line with recent months, by provinces, compared to May, Lleida once again led the growth in Catalan affiliations, with an increase of 2.86%. Girona followed closely, with employment growth of 2.74%. In Tarragona and Barcelona, the increase in people registered with Social Security was more moderate in relative terms, growing by 1.55% and 0.48%, respectively. In contrast, Terres de Ponent is the only Catalan territory where unemployment has increased (+1.71%), while unemployment has decreased in Girona (-1.65%), Barcelona (-0.12%), and Tarragona (-0.02%).

By profiles, during the month of June, the decrease in unemployment was concentrated among men (-825) and those under 25 years of age (-512). In contrast, among people over 25 years of age, unemployment remained almost in line with the previous month. It is also noteworthy that unemployment decreased among native-born workers (-3.36% annually) and increased among foreigners (+0.83%). According to the sector, unemployment fell in industry (-0.86%), services (-0.62%), and construction (-0.10%), but increased slightly in agriculture (+0.53%).

"Intense dynamism"

At the state level, a good employment trend is also maintained. The number of affiliates to Social Security is breaking records in the rest of the Spanish territory, standing at 22.46 million. Thus, in the last month, 128,533 employed people were added, in what has been one of the best months of June in the historical series. “Spain is prolonging the intense dynamism of its labor market, which is behaving more favorably than that of the main European economies,” says Elma Saiz, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Foreigners added 86,630 affiliates throughout the State and already represent 3.45 million employed people.

Furthermore, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, Spanish unemployment fell by 28,739 people in June (-1.24%) and stood below 2.3 million for the first time since January 2008. Therefore, the unemployed in the State fell for the fourth consecutive month, although this June they have done so with a less significant reduction than in the previous three months.