- Employment increases by 525,100 people in the last year, mostly in the private sector, with an annual rate of 3%
- Temporary employment among employees drops almost half a point in the fourth quarter of 2015 and stands at 25.66%
- The unemployment rate is reduced to 20.90%, 2.81 points lower than a year earlier and the lowest since the second quarter of 2011
- In the last year, households with all their unemployed members are reduced by 209,700 and those with all assets occupied increase by 420,300
Data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) for the fourth quarter of 2015 reflect that the recovery of the economy is moving strongly to the labor market. According to data made public by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), unemployment fell by 678,200 people in the last year, the largest annual decline in the EPA's historical series. The unemployment rate has stood at 20.90%, which represents a decrease of 2.81 points in twelve months and the lowest rate since the second quarter of 2011. On the other hand, employment increases by 525,100 people, at an interannual rate of 2.99%, with the average number of employed persons in the fourth quarter of 2015 at 18,094,200. All sectors of the economy have created employment in the last year.
The vigor of the recovery of the Spanish economy, with annual growth rates of GDP above 3%, is allowing the labor market to show dynamism again. The decrease in unemployment by 678,200 people exceeds the year-end forecasts made by the Executive and shows that the recovery is helping to alleviate the still high level of unemployment. The unemployment rate has fallen almost three points in the last twelve months, to 20.9%. The number of unemployed people who lost their job more than a year ago has been reduced by 425,400 people and the number of unemployed people seeking their first job has decreased by 91,700. Regarding the third quarter, unemployment has been reduced by 71,300 people and stands at 4,779,500 unemployed.
Employment, meanwhile, grew in the fourth quarter of 2015 at an annual rate of 2.99%, with more than 525,000 net jobs created. The increase in employment is balanced, with good performance in all branches of activity and an increase in indefinite contracts. In the fourth quarter, employment has increased by 45,500 people, 0.25% more than in the previous quarter. The totality of salaried employment created in the last quarter of the year is indefinite (increases by 103,400), while those for temporary contracts decrease by 63,600. The temporary rate is reduced almost half a point, to 25.66%.
The greatest job creation in annual terms has occurred in the private sector, with an increase of 452,000 employed. The public sector has increased its staff by 73,100 employed. All sectors of the economy are creating employment. In the Services sector, 421,500 more employees have been registered; in Agriculture, 50,800; in Construction, 28,100; and in Industry, 24,600. More than 95% of the employment created in 2015 in the Spanish economy is full time (501,700). Also, of the salaried employment that has been created in the last year (505,700 jobs), two thirds are temporary contracts and one third are indefinite contracts.
The number of households that have all their active members unemployed has fallen in the fourth quarter by 16,300, to a total of 1.56 million households. For their part, households with all their active active members have increased by 64,400, to 9.5 million.
