• Unemployment falls by almost half a million people and the unemployment rate is reduced to 23.8% compared to a year ago
  • Most of the new jobs are undefined and the temporary employment rate drops to 23.6%
  • The number of households with all their unemployed members decreases by 185,400
  • In the first quarter 114,300 jobs have been destroyed, the lowest volume since 2008, and unemployment falls by 13,100

Employment increased by 504,200 people in the last year, according to estimates of the Active Population Survey (EPA) prepared by the INE. The annual growth of employment is 3%, half a point more than the previous quarter. The Spanish economy thus enters the second year of the recovery with increasingly robust employment and activity data. These are mostly undefined employment (increased by 289,700 in the last year), the temporary employment rate is reduced by six tenths, up to 23.6%, and most are full-time jobs (413,600). Unemployment falls by 488,700 people and stands at a total of 5.44 million. The unemployment rate is reduced 2.15 points, up to 23.8% of the active population.

Regarding inter-quarterly data, it should be taken into account that the first quarter of the year is usually negatively affected by seasonality. In relation to the last quarter of 2014, 114,300 jobs were destroyed in the first quarter of 2015, which represents the smallest decrease in the first quarter since 2008. The inter-quarterly decline in employment has been -0.65%, a rate that It stands at 0.43% with corrected seasonality series, compared to 0.81% in the previous quarter. Unemployment falls by 13,100 people in the quarter, -0.24%, although in seasonally adjusted terms it is reduced by 2.5% compared to the previous quarter.

From a sector perspective, the number of employees has increased in construction and industry, with increases of 30,300 and 2,300, respectively. On the contrary, services recorded a reduction of 135,400 jobs and agriculture of 11,500. Regarding a year earlier, the level of employment increases in non-agricultural branches, with 334,900 more employed in services, 142,500 in industry and 118,500 in construction, while agriculture loses 91,700 troops.

Based on the professional situation, the quarterly decline in employment has corresponded both to employees and to self-employed workers. The first group decreases in 89,200 and the second does it in 23,000. On the other hand, the decline in employment has been concentrated in the private sector, with 143,500 fewer employed, while public employment has increased by 29,200 people. With respect to a year earlier, the private sector increased its troops by 468,000 and the public by 36,200, with annual rates of 3.3% and 1.2%, respectively.

Employees with an indefinite contract have increased by 25,300 in the quarter, while those with a temporary contract have been reduced by 114,500. Following this result, the temporary employment rate drops 0.65 points compared to that of the fourth quarter of 2014, to 23.6%. In relation to a year earlier, workers with an indefinite contract increased by 289,700 people and those with temporary contracts, by 174,800.

With regard to working hours, the number of full-time employees has decreased by 130,600 in the first quarter of 2015, while part-time employees increase by 16,300. With respect to the same period of 2014, the full-time increase by 413,600 people and the part-time increase by 90,600.

The unemployment has decreased in the first quarter of the year by 13,100 people, which represents the largest decline in unemployment in the first quarter since 2005. The total unemployed stands at 5,444,600 and the unemployment rate at 23.78% of the active population, a tenth higher than the previous quarter and lower by 2.15 points than a year earlier. With seasonally adjusted series, the inter-quarterly variation in the number of unemployed stands at -2.5%, compared to -1.4% in the previous quarter, linking eight quarters of consecutive falls. With respect to a year earlier, unemployment has been reduced by 488,700 people, 8.2%. The quarterly decline in unemployment has affected men, with 21,400 fewer unemployed, while among women the number of unemployed rose by 8,300. The unemployment rate of men falls six hundredths and stands at 22.7% while that of women rises 24 hundredths to 25%.

By branches of activity, unemployment decreased in construction and industry, with 7,200 and 4,200 fewer unemployed, respectively, while it increased in services (35,300) and in agriculture (9,700). The unemployed looking for their first job decreased by 21,300 and the unemployed who lost their job more than a year ago decreased by 25,500.

The number of households with all their active members unemployed increases in the first quarter of 2015 by 27,300, totaling 1,793,600, and that of households with all its active members occupied decreases by 18,700, to 9,091,400. With respect to a year ago, the number of households with all their unemployed members has been reduced by 185,400, while those with all their assets occupied have increased by 431,800.

The active population decreases by 127,400 people in the first quarter. With respect to a year before, it increases by 15,500 people. The activity rate drops 0.32 points in the quarter, to 59.5%.



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