For its part, the average number of Social Security affiliates stood at 18,458,667, which represents a decrease of 548,093 employed persons with respect to the March average (-2.88%). It should be noted that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic began to be noticeably appreciated as of March 12, so the data on the variation of the average affiliation in April over that of March does not strictly reflect what happened in the whole of the month.
In order to have an accurate picture of the evolution of employment and the impact of the crisis caused by COVID-19, it is necessary to know the evolution of daily membership and its situation on the last day of April. As of April 30, the number of people affiliated to Social Security was 18,396,362, which means that Social Security registered 49,074 fewer members than on day 1. This behavior supposes a certain stabilization of employment, after the decrease of 833,979 affiliates that occurred during March.
It is worth noting in the evolution throughout the month that the number of women decreased by 56,815, to 8,884,139, while the number of employed men grew by 7,741, to 10,130,352.
Regarding 2019
In the last 12 months, the System has lost 771,695 members (-4.01%). Of this figure, 712,160 correspond to the General Regime, which experiences a decrease of 4.48%. It is the first year-on-year drop in this month since 2013. Specifically, the Special Agrarian System has seen its affiliates decrease by 22,418, while the Special System for Household Employees, by 26,447.
For its part, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers lost 55,474 (-1.70%) compared to April 2019. The Sea Regime decreased by 3,729 employed persons (5.74%). Coal decreased by 332 members, with a decrease of 21.3%.
Compared to March
The average number of affiliates suffered a decrease of 548,093 employed with respect to the March average (-2.88%). There was no loss of affiliation in April compared to March since 2009. In 2019, in that same period, 186,785 employees joined.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the average monthly loss of affiliates is 691,054 employed.
In the last month, monthly affiliation in all Social Security regimes fell, with the exception of the Special Agrarian System, within the General Regime, whose rate increased with respect to March by 1.41% (in 10,561 affiliates). Employment among workers in the General Scheme as a whole decreased by 505,458 people (-3.22%).
By sectors, in the General Regime, growth has only been registered in Health and Social Services Activities, with 23,228 more members. For its part, Construction has lost 89,864 members (-10.7%), Hospitality, 76,902 (-6.5%) and Artistic and Entertainment Activities, 20,702 (-7.99%).
The Self-Employed Regime had 3,211,267 average affiliates, after a loss of 41,250 (-1.27%), and the Sea Regime registered 61,283 employees, 1,371 less than in March (-2.19%). Finally, Coal stood at 1,226 average affiliates (-14).
COVID-19 Impact
As already indicated at the beginning of the note, to know how employment has evolved in the month of April, it is necessary to specify what happened from the beginning to the end of the month, and not focus on the variation in average affiliation. Between April 1 and 30, the balance in membership was negative, with 49,074 fewer members. This data contrasts with the March drop of 833,979 affiliates, which totaled 898,822, taking into account only from day 12, when the impact of COVID-19 began to be perceived.
If the effect of the coronavirus pandemic in the two months is analyzed (the evolution from March 12 to the end of April), a negative balance of 947,896 members is observed.
If we pay attention to detail in the evolution of the affiliates in April (from the 1st to the 30th), by economic activities the greatest decreases occur in Retail trade and Education. In contrast, Agriculture, Livestock, Hunting and Related Services, Hospitality and Construction have grown.
Regarding the type of contract in that period, the decrease in affiliation in temporary contracts stands out with a great difference, -1.63%, while employment linked to permanent contracts grew by 0.23%.
Not all the autonomous communities lose affiliation if the evolution between April 1 and 30 is taken into account. The Balearic Islands (6.17%), Murcia (1.73%), Extremadura (0.6%), Aragon (0.35%) and Andalusia (0.15%) added.
ERTE force majeure
Finally, it should be noted that of the total number of affiliates, as of April 30, 3,386,785 were protected by a situation of total or partial suspension by Temporary Employment Regulatory Records (ERTE). They would be 24.25% of the affiliates in the General Regime. Of these, 3,074,462 were in ERTE due to force majeure.
The sectors with the most affiliates in an ERTE are Food and Beverage Services (726,137), Retail Trade (448,243), Wholesale Trade (210,959) and Accommodation Services (206,379).
The communities where there are the most employed in this situation are Catalonia (678,684), Madrid (566,307), Andalusia (477,392) and the Valencian Community (349,634).