We can’t go on like this: six years of wage stagnation in Spain
Salaries have been stagnating in Spain for the last six years and this has been a basic reason for the increase in competitiveness and the economy’s recovery.
Salaries have been stagnating in Spain for the last six years and this has been a basic reason for the increase in competitiveness and the economy’s recovery.
The number of unemployed people registered with the Spanish unemployment office rose by 22,801 (+0.6%) in September. Even so, the total number of jobless people remained at the lowest level for the last seven years at 3.720.297, according to a statement from the Employment Ministry on Tuesday.
Socimis, or Reits as they are called in Europe and the US, have helped revive the damaged real estate sector in Spain since 2009. Merlin Properties has been one of the most successful ones and was listed by Chairman and founder Ismael Clemente in 2014. In his opinion, that was a good year to start because “the cycle bottomed out at the end of 2013.”
J.L.M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | Spain’s economy had a funding capacity of 9.021 billion euros in the second quarter of the year, when compared with the rest of the world. But is it a good thing for a country which needs investment in order to create jobs to have financing capacity?
After successive defeats in the general elections over the last four years, the socialist party has ousted its leader. This time round, the dismissal was carried out by force, with an agonising voting process via a show of hands after 12 hours of debate over how and what to vote.
Spain’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew four tenths of a pecent to 0.3% in September from a year earlier, returning to positive territory for the first time this year. The last time inflation moved out of negative territory was in December 2015, when the rate was 0%.
The European Court of Justice’s recent ruling on the conformity of Spanish legislation with regard to compensation for temporary workers whose contracts are terminated is a serious setback for the country’s trade unions. The number of workers who may be affected by the European Court of Justice’s ruling is very high. It could have an impact on the almost 4 million temporary contract workers in the country, of which 300,000 are interim staff in Spain’s administration.
The British economy has absorbed Brexit well and one of the reasons for this soft landing is the pound’s devaluation. But the pound’s weakness is already a problem for the Eurozone, particularly for Spain, and if this is prolonged it will be an even bigger one. Furthermore if Europe is stagnating, how Spain can be doing as well as the government says? Are we living on an island?
The recovery in the construction industry in Spain over the last few months is not just a recurring theme. The sector has definitely again reached the European standards which it failed to meet in the last phase of the property boom in 2004-2007.
The hypothesis that London may cease to be the financial capital of the European Union has mobilised other capital cities in the region. Madrid is amongst the capitals which have begun to be put forward as a candidate, but its current political situation, including having a caretaker government for over 300 days, could ruin its chances.