Employment continues to grow and unemployment falls to pre-crisis levels

BarcelonaThe labor market continues to expand both in Catalonia and throughout Spain. Employment continued to grow in the second quarter of the year, with Catalonia now approaching four million employed people and reducing the unemployment rate to almost 8%, according to data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA) for the second quarter of this year, published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Overall, employment in the country exceeds 22 million workers for the first time, while the unemployment rate falls below 11% and for the first time falls below pre-2008 financial crisis levels.

Thus, in Catalonia there were almost four million employed workers last quarter –specifically, 3.994 million, a new historical high–, compared to 3.85 million in the first quarter. The increase in the number of workers with jobs contrasts with the reduction in the number of unemployed, which fell from 376,400 to 348,300. The unemployment rate also fell, from 8.9% to 8.1%, the lowest figure since the second quarter of 2008, just before the outbreak of the international financial crisis and the real estate bubble in the State.

Thus, after a worsening of the situation on the labor market in the first three months of the yearIn the second quarter, Catalonia reduced its total number of unemployed by 28,200 (a 7.4% decrease), while increasing the number of employed people by 94,600 (a 2.4% increase). In fact, Catalonia was the autonomous community where the most new jobs were created.

Of the more than 3.9 million employed Catalan workers, the services sector was the one that employed the most, with 2.98 million, followed by industry with more than 666,000. Construction and industry employed 243,000 and 51,000 people between April and June, respectively.

In Spain, the figures show similar trends: employment rose between April and June from 21.765 million to 22.268 million active workers, a historic record, and the first time the figure for employment has exceeded 22 million in Spain. On the other hand, unemployment fell: the unemployment rate in Spain fell from 11.3% in the first three months of the year to 10.2%, reaching levels not seen since the first quarter of 2008. The total number of unemployed people fell from 2.789 million to 2.553 million.

Regarding the active population (those working and those looking for work), the second quarter also surpassed historic records both in Catalonia and Spain. In Catalonia, the labor force grew from 4,226,000 to 4,923,000 between the first and second quarters of this year, while in Spain the growth was from 24,554,000 to 24,821,000. At this rate of growth, Catalonia could surpass five million active workers this year, and Spain, 25 million.

Unions have praised the good performance of the labor market, but reiterated their demands. "These are good figures," stated Òscar Riu, secretary of union policy for UGT in Catalonia, but noted that the second-quarter LFS includes "the impact of Easter and the summer season," two periods when unemployment falls and many companies—particularly in the tourism, retail, and hospitality industries—increase their hiring.

"We must work to consolidate the job creation of recent years," Rius asserted, calling for specific policies to help the "forgotten" sectors of the labor market, which include "young men and women," women with primary education, and the long-term unemployed. Regarding the latter, the UGT leader noted that they represent "more than half of the unemployed in our country."

The Spanish government is satisfied.

Given this data, the Spanish government has reacted with satisfaction. "The Spanish economy is moving forward strongly and is doing so by creating quality employment," said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in a message on the social network X. "This is very positive news for our country, not only the 22 million people who are working, but practically all of the EPA data," added the Minister of Labor and Vice President of the Media.

Díaz has taken advantage of the good situation of the labor market to attack the previous Popular Party government. According to the Vice President, the Spain that "Mariano Rajoy dreamed of" is now a reality: "He said he would like a Spain with 20 million people in employment. Well, today we have a Spain with 22 million and improving," she declared. "There have never been so many people working" in the Spanish state, celebrated the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, in statements to the press.

Despite the optimism, however, Díaz reiterated that the government must continue working to ensure that, in addition to new jobs, there is also an improvement in wages for the majority of the population. "You can't live with dignity on 1,666 euros a month," she emphasized.