Gone are the worst moments of the pandemic, which brought a significant increase in unemployment, which would have been much higher without the ERTE tool. Evidence of the improvement in the situation is that unemployment has already accumulated in the state at this time, which has fallen for seven consecutive months, and 143,422 people registered in lab offices less than before the health crisis. But the recovery has been uneven at the regional level. And one of the nine Alicante counties, only five managed to lower the unemployment rate they had in 2019. These are Alto, Medio and Bajo Vinalopó, Vega Baja and l’Alacantí, where residential tourism is vital for the well-functioning of the agri-food sector and the revival of exports, increasing numbers.
The latest labor market data, corresponding to the first quarter of this year, published by the Generalitat Valenciana Statistical Portal (PEGV), highlighting inequalities in employment recovery Before the health crisis broke out among different districts of the province, the region that managed to decrease the unemployment rate the most compared to the same quarter of 2019 was Vega Baja, which rose from 16.46 to 13.89 today. Then Orta Vinalopó, traveling from 18.38 to 16.32; Alto Vinalopó from 15.16 to 14.37; l’Alacanti, from 15.20 to 15.15; and Bajo Vinalopó, from 16.74 to 16.44.
The remaining regions, on the other hand, continue to present higher unemployment rates than those addressed prior to the pandemic, albeit true to fairly narrow margins. This is the case for Marina Alta, which is now 12.51 compared to 12.07 in 2019; Marina Baixa with 15.24 instead of 14.63; Comtat with 13.44 compared to 13.33; and l’Alcoià with 13.96 compared to 13.84 three years ago.
Paloma Taltavull, professor of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Alicante (UA), cites several factors when citing the reasons for the differences between different regions. In the case of the three districts of Vinalopó, the decrease in the unemployment rate, gradual recovery of exports from the footwear industry, these areas are well established and also some agro-food products and wine are at the forefront. In Vega Baja, for its part, the good behavior of the agri-food sector throughout the pandemic, as well as return of residential tourism, a great weight in the entire region. Finally, in l’Alacanti, the capital effect comes into play as a driving force at the economic level.
Similarly, Francisco Menargues, dean of the Official Association of Economists of the province of Alicante, on the other hand, expresses his confidence in the future of two main tourist areas, namely Marina Alta and Baixa. lower rates immediately. “We’re talking about the first quarter numbers and The impact of tourism will be noticed latercoincides with the summer season. All indications show that this is a very good campaign,” he emphasizes.
A remarkable fact is that Occupancy rates have also increasedIn this case, in Alicante counties as a whole, it will be related to a migration process or also to an increase in those who did not work before and decided to start working as a result of the health crisis. market.