- The number of unemployed stands at 5,977,500 people and the unemployment rate falls by 0.9 points, to 26.3%
- The temporary rate falls to 23.1%, half a point lower than that of a year ago
- The increase in the number of employed contrasts with the destruction of 15,900 jobs in the same period of 2012
In the second quarter of 2013 the job increased by 149,000 people compared to the previous quarter, according to the estimates of the Labor Force Survey (EPA) prepared by the INE. In the same period of 2012 15,900 jobs were destroyed. During the last year, 633,500 jobs have been lost, a drop of -3.64% compared to -4.58% in the previous quarter. As for unemployment, their number decreased by 225,200 people, while in the same period last year it increased by 53,600. The total number of unemployed people fell from six million to 5,977,500 and the unemployment rate fell almost one point to 26.26%.
By sector, job creation focused especially on the Services and Agriculture sector. Its occupancy levels increased by 154,800 and 37,500 respectively. In contrast, Construction lost 26,400 jobs and Industry 16,800.
Once adjusted for seasonal factors (obtained with the TRAMO-SEATS model by the Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness), the total employment figures show an increase of some 13,100 employees and a quarterly rate of 0.1%. This figure represents an improvement in the quarterly rate of more than one point compared to that recorded in the first quarter.
The increase in employment has corresponded to 111,900 to employees and 37,300 to non-employees. On the other hand, this increase in employment came entirely from the private sector with 151,600 new net jobs, while the public sector reduced its workforce by 2,600 workers. In seasonally adjusted terms, both those employed in the private and public sectors remained practically at the levels of the previous quarter, with a slight positive variation for the former and negative for the latter.
According to job stability, it is observed that the increase in salaried employment has been temporary. While permanent contract workers decreased by 50,400, temporary workers increased by 162,200. In relation to a year earlier, workers with permanent contracts decreased -4.0% and workers with temporary contracts slowed their rate of decline to -6.9% (just over five points). After this result, the temporary rate increases to 23.1%, one point more than the previous quarter and half a point less than a year ago.
Full-time employed persons increased by 56,400 in the quarter and part-time employed persons increased by 92,500. Compared to the same period a year earlier, full-time ones decreased by -5.3% and part-time ones increased 5.9%. These rates represent a slowdown in the drop of 1.1 points in the first group and a moderation in the rate of increase of 0.3 points in the second. After these results, the weight of part-time workers increased by 0.4 points in the quarter and by 1.5 points compared to a year earlier. The bias rate, which already reaches 16.4%, constitutes an all-time high.
The active population decreased compared to the previous quarter 76,100 people (-0.3%). When correcting for seasonality, this rate is -0.2% (four tenths lower than that of the first quarter). Compared to a year earlier, the active population decreased by 349,100 people, -1.5% compared to -1.0% in the previous quarter.
The decrease in the active population responds to a decrease in the population over 16 years of 43,200 fewer people compared to the previous quarter and a slight reduction of just over a tenth of the activity rate. This rate has stood at 59.5% and its decrease responds to the two-tenths decrease in the male activity rate. The decline in population has been divided equally between nationals and foreigners. However, the reduction in the number of assets is supported by the loss of foreign assets (-82,400) given that the national active population has increased slightly (6,300 people). In annual terms, the foreign active population falls at a rate of -6.1% while the national population falls to -0.7%.
Unemployment decreased by 225,200 people (in the second quarter of 2012 there was an increase of 53,600). Once the seasonal variation figure has been corrected, this decrease is reduced to 52,900. It should be noted that the fall in unemployment in this second quarter is the second largest in the historical series of the EPA (in the same period of 1999, 226,800 unemployed were recorded). Thus, the total unemployed stands at 5,977,500 people and the unemployment rate decreases by 0.9 points, reaching 26.26% of the active population. When working with destacionalized data, this rate drops to 26.31% (- 0.2 points lower than that of the first quarter also corrected for seasonality).
The assessment of the EPA figures is, overall, positive. In a quarter in which the final rate of GDP growth will mark a practical stabilization of economic activity, the quarterly employment rate follows this evolution, which represents an improvement in relative terms compared to the previous quarters. On the other hand, the decrease in unemployment occurs in a magnitude clearly higher than the decrease in assets, which indicates that a turning point in the dynamics of the labor market is taking place. The Government expects that these advances will be consolidated in the course of the next quarters, especially as GDP growth resumes its positive momentum, for which it will be essential to persevere in fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, while the moderation of income and price containment is maintained.