Social Security registers a record high of 19,500,277 people affiliated in June in Spain, In addition, there are still 447,800 people affected by temporary layoffs. Infojobs conjectures that the trend of job creation will consolidate in the medium term. With Social Security enrollment at an all-time high and the European funds still to arrive, is a real opportunity 20 million people working in Spain?
Josep Mestres Domènech (CaixaBank Research)| In times of crisis, the reduction in employment traditionally occurred in Spain through a significant destruction of jobs, while in periods of expansion job creation was rapid. This has not been the case in this crisis. For the first time, the declines in GDP have been accompanied by a much smaller reduction in employment. This is not only due to the unique nature of this crisis, which originated in the health sphere, but also due to a very different response from economic policy.
Randstand Research | The labor market records in November reflect a relatively negative performance against the path of recovery that was observed during the previous four months. Social Security affiliation in November increased by 31,638 people, a 0.17% increase, the best figures in that month since 2006, but it masks a rising in those affected by temporary layoffs of 147.000 during that month. The total number of contributors exceeds the threshold of 19 million (namely 19.02 million people).
The number of employed people increased in the third quarter of the year by 569,600 compared to the previous quarter which saw the greatest impact of the pandemic from confinement. The total number of employed stood at 19.17 million. However, the number of unemployed also increased by 355,000 to 3.722.900, equivalent to a rate of 16.26%, the highest since the first quarter of 2018, according to the Labour Force Survey (EPA) published on Tuesday.
The labour market figures in July are very good thanks to the reopening of services and the return of tourism to Spain. Unemployment fell by 89,849 people, the first drop since February.The number of people still affected by temporary layoffs schemes (ERTEs) is now just over one million and the Social Security affiliation average membership is still rising. However, only 17% of the jobs destroyed have been recovered.
The results of the Labour Force Survey (EPA in its Spanish acronym) for the second quarter of 2020 continue to reflect the situation arising from the pandemic. Employment fell by 1,074,000 persons in this period. It should be borne in mind that this figure does not include those affected by a temporary lay-offs with suspension of employment. Meanwhile, the unemployment figure rose by by 55,000 people, with the unemployment rate standing at 15.33%.
More than 40% of Spanish companies are planning or considering cutting their workforce due to the impact of Covid-19. At the same time, 25% of firms have frozen salaries and 16% are reducing them, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 European organisations, carried out by consultancy group Willis Towers Watson. More than one hundred Spanish companies are included in the survey.
CaixaBank Research | Immigration is back in Spain after years of crisis in which there were many more immigrants departing than arriving (between 2010 and 2014). More specifically, Spain has once again become a net recipient of foreign immigration since 2015 and the trend has intensified in recent years: net inflows of foreign nationals reached 330,000 people in 2018 according to the migration statistics of the National Statistics Institute. The following are the main conclusions.
J.P. Marín Arrese / Looking for any rational clue in the extricate discussion on labour relations seems a hopeless aim. One even wonders why economists still call it a market when it departs so obviously from any standard pattern.
Unemployment fell by 112,400 people in 2019, 3.4% less than in 2018, registering its seventh consecutive annual decline. This drop is the smallest since 2013, when unemployment fell by 85,400 people. The fall in unemployment was four times less in 2019 compared with 2018.The jobless rate stood at 13.78% at end-2019.