Spain’s jobs report shows a weak, uncertain but real recovery

employment

There are more families whose members all have an employment than before- and that explains the consumption rise. There is more employment in the private sector and more stability in the public one (adding to 18% of the total employees, a very reasonable proportion compared to other euro zone countries).

On the less optimistic side, we should point out two aspects: the precarisation of employment (of those 400,000 new contracts, more than half are temporary, although some might lead to an indefinite position). And almost 100,000 are temporary, although this is not necessarily negative and shows the flexibility of a complex and diverse society like Spain’s.

The big problem remains long duration employment. More than 2 million Spaniards are out of subsidies. A problema that requires specific and immediate solutions from the government.

These data are consistent with the advance of the GDP published by the Bank of Spain on Wednesday. Economists at the Bank of Spain have improved their forecasts for this and next year, based on a greater domestic demand, and best expectations of economic agents.

To sum up, Spain has left the crisis behind, but it’s a bruised country suffering from a 2.7 million-job-deficit compared to the maximum employment level reached in the Spring of 2007, with 2.5 million chronic unemployed, with wages increasingly low and insecurity on the rise, but with a tendency to improve.

About the Author

Fernando Gonzalez Urbaneja
Over 30 years working in economic journalism. Fernando was founder and chief-editor at El País, general editor at the business daily Cinco Días, and now teaches at Universidad Carlos III. He's been president of the Madrid Press Association and the Spanish Federation of Press Associations. He's also member of the Spanish press complaints commission.

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