Spain reaches 21 million workers for the first time thanks to the push of tourism and the service sector
The second quarter of the year is usually prosperous for employment, driven by Easter and the arrival of good weather as a prelude to summer, and 2023 was no exception. According to the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), Spain created more than 600,000 jobs between April and June and reduced unemployment by 365,300 people, marking a historical record of employment thanks to the push of the service sector.
Never before in Spain had there been so many people working. The total number of employed between the months of April and June reached 21 million people, the highest mark in the historical series. “We reached a new all-time high,” said the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who described the data as “extraordinary” and stressed “the strength of the economy”. This record is the result of the creation of 603,900 jobs compared to the first quarter of the year, which represents an advance of 2.95% in the number of employed. In the last twelve months, which represent the first full year with the labor reform fully in force, Spain has gained 588,700 jobs.
This is the highest job creation recorded in a quarter, according to the historical series of the EPA, exceeding the 569,700 jobs that were generated between July and September 2020, after the destruction of jobs caused by the pandemic during the previous months. This boost in employment has been due to the contribution of the private sector, which gained 610,100 workers between April and June, compared to the loss of 6,200 jobs in the public sphere. In particular, the services sector was the one that grew the most, with 606,000 new jobs more than in the previous quarter, that is, more than the general calculation. In fact, it is the quarter in which the most employment has been created in the service sector in the entire historical series.
In this sense, the general secretary of the Unión Sindical Obrera, Joaquín Pérez, has positively valued the creation of employment, but has called attention to the contribution of the service sector. “Without a doubt, the data from the latest EPA is good data for employment and for the economy, growing employment and permanent contracts. However, the service sector continues to drive job creation, while jobs have been destroyed in industry. Betting on the reindustrialization of the country, on attracting industrial investment and retaining the ones we already have, must be a priority for the next government,” he said.. Along with the services sector, the creation of 60,900 and 1,500 jobs respectively in construction and agriculture has offset the loss of 64,500 jobs in industry in the last quarter.
The rise in employment on the services side coincides with a season marked by the recovery of tourism and the arrival of good weather. According to data from the INE, between April and June the number of travelers who have visited Spain and stayed in hotel establishments has grown by 8% compared to the same period of 2022, with a special growth in the arrival of foreign tourists. The sector expects the summer season to break visitor records from before the pandemic.
The lowest unemployment rate since 2008
At the same time, unemployment fell in the second quarter of the barrier of 3 million people. Specifically, the number of unemployed in Spain fell by 11.7% compared to the previous quarter to 2.76 million, which means 365,300 fewer people —213,300 women and 152,000 men, representing a drop of 12.5% in female unemployment and 10.6% in male unemployment—. This is the sharpest quarterly decline in the historical series for a second quarter of the year. This drop reduced unemployment to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2008 and has placed the unemployment rate in Spain at 11.6%, breaking the 12% barrier for the first time in the last fifteen years.
Unemployment fell in the second quarter in all branches, although the drop in the services sector stands out especially, which lost 208,600 unemployed. It was followed by the long-term unemployed, construction, the group of those looking for their first job and even industry and agriculture, where unemployment fell respectively by 86,200, 23,400, 22,400, 19,100 and 5,700 people between April and June.
In addition, most of the employment created was permanent. In the second quarter, wage earners with an indefinite contract increased by 410,100 people compared to the start of the year, compared to the sum of 95,400 temporary jobs and 97,300 self-employed workers. Thus, at the end of June the number of workers with an indefinite contract exceeded 14.76 million, a new all-time high, while the temporary employment rate rose slightly to 17.35%.. “Almost 15 million people are already permanent: we have more jobs, with better quality and with more stability”, stressed the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.
The employment and Social Security affiliation data released monthly by the Ministries of Labor and Inclusion, respectively, already pointed to this downward trend in unemployment and upward employment, although in recent months they have reflected a cooling in the rate of employment creation. In June, the last month for which data is available, registered unemployment at employment offices fell by 50,268 people, but Social Security added half as many affiliates as in the same period of 2022.