Therefore, it is necessary to know the data for the last day of the month, since it expresses more reliably, on this occasion, the evolution of employment and the repercussion of the crisis caused by COVID-19. As of March 31, the number of people affiliated to Social Security was 18,445,436, which means that until that day the system lost 833,979 members.
As for the monthly average data (the one that is usually provided), the decrease in 243,469 members is the second in the historical series for March, only another negative figure was found in 2009 (-54,489). In 2019, in that same period, 155,104 employees were incorporated.
The seasonally adjusted data, with the corrected calendar effect, shows an average drop of 415,800 members, a significant figure that breaks a trend that has remained positive since November 2013 (-17,072).
On average, the number of employed women reached 8,884,144 in February, which represents a decrease of 94,621.
Average data compared to 2019
The interannual computation of the average affiliation this month shows a negative balance, -36,817 (-0.19%), which places the total of employed persons at 19,006,760. The greatest decrease corresponds to the General Regime, which experienced a decrease of 0.21%, 0.05% without counting the Special Household Systems (-14,985) or the S.E. Agrarian (-25,431).
The Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers subtracted 1,562 compared to March 2018 (-0.05%). The Sea Regime fell by 1,772 employed persons (-2.75%). Coal decreased by 323 members, after a decrease of 20.67%.
The number of affiliates decreased in all the autonomous communities, except in the Community of Madrid (17,767), the Basque Country (7,113), the Region of Murcia (6,140), the Valencian Community (5,536), Navarra (3,412) and Cantabria (618). The decreases in Andalusia (-27,984.), The Canary Islands (-11,063) and Catalonia (-10,719) stand out.
Average membership compared to February
Affiliation to the General Scheme decreased in March by 238,801 (-1.50%), which places the total of average affiliates at 15,690,350.
In March, only the affiliation in Agriculture, Livestock, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing increased with 840 (1.19%) and in Health Activities and Social Services, which totals 11,767 (0.73%). The greatest falls were registered in Artistic, Recreational and Entertainment Activities, -14,141 (-5.17%); Hospitality, -60,229 (-4.85%) and Construction -39,818 (-4.53%).
Within the General Regime, it should be noted that the Special Agrarian System experienced an increase of 2,642 average affiliates, in relation to February (0.35%), which places the number of employed at 749,382. For its part, the Special System for Household Employees fell by 814 members (-0.21%), so it now reaches 393,358 average members.
The Self-Employed Regime has 3,252,517 average affiliates, after falling by 5,380 people (0.17%). Between the Sea Regime occupation increased by 772 (1.17%), to 62,654 average members. Finally, Coal stands at 1,239 average affiliates (-10).
By territories, they decreased in all the autonomous communities, except in the Balearic Islands, where it increased by 10,028 people (2.27%). The greatest decreases correspond to Andalusia, with 54,098 fewer members (-1.72%), Madrid loses 52,065 (-1.59%), Catalonia falls by 41,015 (-1.19%), the Canary Islands, with 19,964 less (-2.44) %) and Castilla-La Mancha, which decreased by 10,730 (-1.52%).
COVID-19 Impact
As already mentioned at the beginning of the note, to know how employment has evolved in the month of March, it is necessary to specify what happened in the first eleven days of the month, when employment was still evolving by adding members, specifically, +64,843 (difference between 19,344,258 on March 11 and 19,279,415 on February 29) and between 12 and 31 March, when the balance in membership plummeted to 898,822 (difference between 19,344,258 on March 11 and 18,445,436).
In the General Regime, the fall has been of 855,081 members (-5.63%), while the Self-Employed Regime, of 40,877 (-1.25%).
If we pay attention to detail, by sector the greatest decreases (since March 12) have been registered in Construction (-17.08%), Hospitality (-14.27%), Administrative Activities and Auxiliary Services (8.91%) , Education (-5.24%), Transport and Storage (-4.76%). In Health Activities it has grown by 7,085 members.
Regarding the type of contract, the drop in affiliation in temporary contracts stands out with a great difference, 17.30%; the decrease in employment linked to permanent contracts is 1.92%.
By Autonomous Community, Andalusia (-6.64%), the Canary Islands (-6.24%), Region of Murcia (-5.07%) and the Valencian Community (-5.75%) registered the most pronounced decreases.
The affiliation data includes those affected by the Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTE) by the COVID-19, which are estimated at 258,645 labor relations.
