- Unemployment falls by 471,100 people and the unemployment rate stands at 16.55%, the lowest for a fourth quarter since the recession
- The number of employees with indefinite employment has increased by 357,900, while the temporary number rises by 179,200
- Most of the employment has been created in the private sector, with 401,700 new positions, almost five times more than in the public
- Full-time employment increases by more than half a million, while part-time employment is lowered by 27,600
- The number of households with all their assets unemployed falls by 177,200 and those that are all occupied increase by 331,300
The Spanish economy touched the 19 million employed at the end of 2017, after increasing by almost half a million in the last year, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published by the INE. Employment grows at an annual rate of 2.65% and chains four years of recovery, in parallel to the evolution of the economy. Unemployment is cut by 471,100 people and the unemployment rate stands at 16.55%, with a fall of 2.09 points in the last year. The percentage of unemployed over active population has dropped more than ten points from the highest peak of the recession and is the lowest since its inception for a fourth quarter. Most of the employment created in the last year is full-time, indefinite and focuses on the private sector.
These data correspond to the EPA of the fourth quarter of 2017, whose results are affected, as usual, by seasonal factors. In relation to the third quarter, employment has fallen by 50,900 people (0.27%) and the number of unemployed has increased by 34,900 (0.94%). The unemployment rate has risen slightly, 16 hundredths, to 16.55% of the active population. Employees with an indefinite contract have increased by 118,800 in the quarter, while those with a temporary contract decrease by 102,900. In the quarter, employment has been created in the public sector (12,700), while in the private sector it has declined (63,500). Full-time employment (130,400) has also been lower compared to the increase in part-time (79,600).
The annual data, that is, compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, eliminates that seasonality factor and allows a greater perspective. The year 2017 is the fourth job creation, at an annual rate around half a million new jobs. At the end of last year, 490,300 jobs were counted more than in the last quarter of 2016. In total, 18.99 million people were occupied in Spain on that date, although still below the 20 million that is the objective of the Government for this Legislature. Last year, employment grew at a rate of 2.65%, which means that most of the economic growth translates into new jobs.
These new jobs are mostly undefined throughout the year. Regarding the total number of employees, indefinite employment has increased by 357,900, compared to 179,200 temporary employees. The temporary employment rate stood at 26.71%, 23 hundredths higher than a year earlier. In the face of temporary maximums of 35% before the crisis, almost 75% of wage earners in Spain currently have permanent employment. All employment has been created full time in the last twelve months (517,900) while 27,600 part-time jobs have been destroyed. The bias rate is also low in Spain, since it stands at 14.77% of the total. Most of the employment has been created in the private sector, 401,700 new positions, almost five times more than in the public (88,700).
Unemployment also chains decreases in the last four years, reducing by 471,100 in the last quarter of 2017 compared to a year earlier, 11.12% less. The total number of unemployed is thus reduced to 3,766,700, the second lowest since the first quarter of 2009. The unemployment rate has fallen 2.09 points in the last year, to 16.55%, and slightly more ten from the peak of the crisis (first quarter of 2013) and the best data for a fourth quarter since the recession. The number of households with all their active members unemployed has been reduced to 1,210,500, after falling by 177,200 in the last year, while those with all their active members occupied have risen by 331,300 and stands at 10,215.00
