The end of the holidays usually leaves Spain with an increase in unemployment and job losses. It is the end of the strongest season for the tourism sector in our country and this year has been no different, although the monthly increase in unemployed people registered with the SEPE has amounted to 21,884 people, the lowest increase in this month since 2016 and the exception of 2021, a year greatly altered by the rebound in employment after the worst of the pandemic.
“The total number of unemployed is 2,572,121, the lowest figure for the month of August since 2008,” the Ministry of Labor said. Over the last 12 months, unemployment has decreased by 130,579 people.
The end of the summer season was also noted in that Social Security lost an average of 193,704 contributors in August compared to the previous month. This is a similar drop to that of the last two years and is mainly due to the decrease in employment in education of more than 70,000 people and the decrease in employment in construction and industry, which represented 19,000 and 17,000 fewer members than in July, respectively.
In seasonally adjusted terms, “Social Security records 30,189 additional affiliates in the last month and this series accumulates 52 months of uninterrupted growth,” according to data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Thus, “the level of employment is consolidated at almost 21.2 million in one month with a strong seasonal component,” defends Minister Elma Saiz.
Spain continues to show a higher employment growth rate than other major European economies: with an increase of 9.4% compared to the pre-pandemic level, higher than France (+5.1%) or Germany (+1.7%).
“It is worth noting that the presence of foreign subsidiaries is one of the driving forces of our labour market,” continued the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Over the last decade, the employment of foreigners has grown faster than that of nationals. Specifically, between January and August of this year, the number of foreign subsidiaries increased by 6 points more than the total membership. In August, affiliates from other countries represented 13.4% of the total. Among the activities that have seen above-average gains in foreign quotas, some with high added value stand out, such as “information and communication”, as well as “construction” and “hotels”.
In the same vein, the increase in numbers is very intense among those under 30, who have increased by 17.9% since the implementation of the labor reform. [de 2021]more than double the total increase (6.9%), which also increased their average contribution bases.
“Not only are more jobs being created, but also better quality jobs: there are almost 3.4 million more workers with a permanent contract than before the labor reform, which exceeds 14.3 million in total,” reports the ministry’s Elma Saiz. Since the beginning of 2024, more than 240,000 additional permanent workers have been registered. Growth is concentrated in full-time contracts: they represent 64% of new members with permanent contracts.
