The job market carried out the scenario planned for Octoberalthough with a more intense increase in employment and a more moderate decrease in unemployment than in the same period of 2023. Concretely, Social Security added 134,306 average affiliates, the highest in the tenth month of the year in the historic series (excluding the pandemic), and reached 20.33 million, driven above all by the education sector. For its part, unemployment increased by 26,769 people, to reach 2.6 million, the lowest since 2007. However, the figures compared to those of a year ago reveal that employment continues to slow down, with the lowest annual increase since 2021.
The data published this Tuesday by the Ministries of Labor, Inclusion and Social Security contain few surprises in terms of the predictable. They have not yet taken into account the impact of DANA’s work, particularly in Valencia, where thousands of companies, employees and self-employed people have had to interrupt their activity because of the tragedy.
Monthly membership growth is the most intense in the historical series (which begins in 2008, coinciding with the outbreak of the financial crisis), driven by education employeeswhich increased by 15.4%, followed by those in the Artistic, Recreational and Entertainment Activities sector, which increased by 5.4%. At the opposite extreme, Household Activities lost members (-3.06%), Hotels (-3%) and Water. Supply and Sanitation (-2.9%).
The inclusion highlights that in year-on-year terms, most sectors of the General Scheme are gaining members, led again by Education, with 69,912 more members (+5.9%), partly due to of the effect of the change of framework of a few. a few months ago of members who previously worked in public administrations.
Even if we must also remember the high weight of discontinuous permanent employees in the activities of academies, driving schools or sports centers, who do not count as teachers in schools and regulated educational centers but in recent years, they contribute to increase the role of these permanent employees. in the seasonal rotation of the sector.
The workforce also increased, particularly in health and social services activities (64,068), hotels (63,293) and commerce (52,372).
For their part, the self-employed gain 40,146 members, or 1.45% and are at their historic maximum if we exclude those in the agricultural sector, who represent 4.85% of the total number of self-employed workers, but they have collapsed of 3.13%.
Thus, memberships recorded an annual increase of 2.47%, or 514,856 more members. However, this is the weakest growth in October since the pandemic, confirming that the labor market is losing dynamism due to the “rebound effect” after the financial crisis.
Unemployment exceeds 2007 threshold
Registered unemployment, for its part, records a more moderate increase than the other months of October and marks its lowest level since 2007. A significant improvement if we take into account that until now the reference was 2008, a year affected by the “burst” of the bubble. real estate and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. In annual terms, unemployment fell by 157,350 people, or 5.7%, accelerating the year-on-year decline.
By economic sectors compared to September, registered unemployment decreased in the construction sector by 1,676 people (-0.85%) and increased in all others.
It is also increasing in the 17 autonomous communities, with the highest increases recorded in Andalusia (7,723), Castile-La Mancha (3,859) and Catalonia (2,909). In this case, the effects of DANA are also not seen at the moment.
