In seasonally adjusted terms, the inter-quarterly variation is reduced to 0.1%, that is, six tenths percent lower than the average growth recorded in the last year.
These data indicate that the pace of employment growth has slowed sharply during the period from July to September, being generated mostly for seasonal reasons.
As a consequence, the interannual variation in employment decreased with respect to the previous quarter and stood at 346,300 more employed in the last year, this is a variation in relative terms of 1.8%, seven tenths less than the growth experienced in the previous quarter The total number of employed persons according to this survey is maintained at 19.8 million people.
With respect to the previous quarter, the increase in employment among employees (101,700) compensated for the fall in self-employment (-30,700), the contraction of employment among the self-employed (-51,300) in this period being especially significant.
Regarding the type of contract of employees, employment growth has been divided between those with an indefinite contract (25,100) and those with a temporary contract (76,600), slightly raising the temporary employment rate that could be associated with the important Seasonal weight in the third quarter employment creation data.
By sectors of activity, the services sector (87,700), together with industry (51,200) have been the sectors that have supported the growth of employment. However, it should be noted that in the first one, employment growth is significantly lower than expected, which could be associated with lower employment growth in sectors such as commerce, while in the industrial sector the positive factor of generation of employment among manufactures in an international context affected by certain restrictions in trade relations between different advanced areas.
For its part, the decrease in employment in the construction sector (-6,500) has to be highlighted again, since it is the second consecutive quarter in which there is a contraction in employment since the end of the crisis.
In year-on-year terms, the increase in EPA employment of 346,300 people must be highlighted, mainly explained by the variation in salaried employment (356,400), which is experiencing a deceleration of a similar amount. Among these, it should be noted that it has been generated by those with an indefinite contract (387,900), compensating in turn the fall between the storms for the same period (-31,500).
Employment growth continues to be sustained, although with less intensity in the services sector, contributing about 71% of total employment growth during the last year. It should also be noted the significant deterioration that has been experienced in construction employment, with a decrease in its interannual variation in half with respect to the record reached in the previous quarter. Likewise, employment in the industry maintains a significant improvement during this second quarter, contributing more than 90,000 jobs with respect to the records reached in the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, during the third quarter of 2019, the number decreased by 16,200 people (-0.5%) and stands at 3,214,400. This is the smallest reduction in unemployment in this quarter since the period of the crisis. It should be noted that, once the seasonal variations have been discounted, unemployment increased by 1.7% with respect to the previous quarter, this being the second consecutive increase of this variable in 2019. In the last 12 months unemployment has decreased in 111,600 people, that is, 3.4%.
The results of the EPA in the third quarter of the year show a clear lower dynamism of the main labor market variables. Both employment growth and, in particular, the reduction in the unemployment rate is slowing down as the main indicators that measure the evolution of productive activity are doing.
In a period, clearly favorable for the employment records, the advance of employment has been produced exclusively by seasonal factors, the occupation in activities that are strongly related to the evolution of private consumption, being the case of trade or The hospitality.
In annual terms, the valuation is still positive in terms of job creation and the contribution to the growth of employment in the manufacturing industry, in a context of contraction of international trade, as well as the consolidation of the growth of employment indefinite hiring.
Both the loss of momentum in the growth of employment and the difficulties of reducing our structural unemployment are signs that, in a context of slowing down the productive activity, require the adoption of measures that make our legal framework of labor relations more flexible and promote and stimulate economic activity.
Within a field of dialogue and social consultation, it is essential that a set of measures to adapt to smaller companies to adapt to the current environment of uncertainty and lower economic growth is analyzed and implemented, deepening those aspects related to growth and business competitiveness, guarantors of the promotion of productive investment and, therefore, of the sustainability of future growth rates of activity and employment.