Spain closed 2023 with a record in terms of job creation work. The active population survey (EPA), published this Friday, confirms what membership data shows month after month, that employment on average has recorded one of the biggest increases in current statistics. In parallel, unemployment It fell even though the large increase in the population willing to work diluted its records and the decline in unemployment was significantly less than the increase in employment.
immigrants In this sense, they became great heroes in an exercise that also had a female face. The question now is whether 2024 will improve the employment slowdown prospects as it did in 2023.
1. Employment at record high: immigrants withdraw their commitment
If 2023 ended as one of the best years for active employees, this The importance of people born outside Spain. The weight of foreign commitment in new jobs created has never been higher; so much so that four out of every 10 new jobs created were employed by immigrants.
Employment is increasing and the active population is also increasing because expectations that more jobs will be created throughout the year have been nurtured and sustained. And this is confirmed. Spain closes 2023 783,000 more employees than in 2022; This is a record balance, it does not hide a certain weakening in the last period of the yearexercise. This allows us to reach a maximum of 21.2 million active employees in the fourth quarter.
Authorities do not deny this slowdown It is clear that expectations for next year are less intense in terms of job creation. Without entering a scenario of stagnation or even destruction, the gains will be more hidden. And contrary to some predictions, the group self-employment It increased at almost the same rate as the number of employees.
2. Unemployment: lowest rate since 2007
This intense job creation contributed to Spain closing 2023 successfully. Lowest unemployment rate since 2007, just before the financial and real estate bubble burst. The national comparison is good, but the international comparison is not, because the Spanish comparison still applies. Highest unemployment rate in the entire European Union. This rate in Spain 11.7% and European average 5.9%.
Another bittersweet fact is that, although the number of households in which all members are unemployed decreased in 2023, it is still over one hundred thousand, especially over 115,100, across the country.
The number of unemployed people reached 2.8 million, about 193,000 fewer than a year ago. This allows Spain to achieve its target of closing the unemployment rate one year below the symbolic 3 million unemployed level for the first time in 16 years.
3. More hours worked but more bias
There are more workers in the economy and the total trade volume the hours they work He said busyness has increased. It is also higher than before the pandemic. The total number of hours worked last year, an indicator often used to measure the vitality of the economy (as the more jobs the better the growth prospects), rose by 3.3%. It is growing at a faster rate than GDP and rose to 1.8% in the third quarter of 2023 (latest data available from INE).
AND, Compared to the pandemic, the total number of hours is now 1.7% more than it was then. Although strategic sectors such as manufacturing or trade are still far from the same business volume as before, there has been an overall improvement in the number of hours worked.
Again, The average number of hours a person works per week is decreasing. What has historically been associated with poorer working conditions is that the main reason for lack of income is not so much salary, but wanting to work more hours to earn more income and being unable to do so. Average working day right now (including full-time employees and part-time employees) 31.7 hours per weekIt was like that before covid. 33.8 hours. Moreover, there is a gender discrimination against women.
4. More stability in hiring
The effects of labor reform are evident above all in higher levels of employment stability. There are currently more than 3.1 million affiliates, according to data from the Ministry of Social Security. Indefinite contract Based on December 2021, the last month before the reform comes into force. Thus, in December, the percentage of members with permanent contracts increased by 16 points since the labor reform, reaching 86%, the highest level in history. AND temporary employment rate remains at a minimum (14%). in case under 30 years oldThe decrease in the level of temporary employment was more intense, falling by 31 points (from 53% to 22%) compared to the pre-reform level.
The effects of labor reform are also noticeable in the evolution of the temporary employment rate. In the private sector, fiscal year 2023, the second year of the new labor reform, has closed. 13.2%, a historic low. To put it into perspective, before the bubble burst the proportion of temporary workers was: 32%That is, almost one in three workers was sure that they would lose their job sooner or later.
But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and high construction rates possibility They resist extinction among certain groups. The best youth They still have ample room for development. stability. Four out of every 10 working people under the age of 25 have a temporary contract. The rate has decreased in the last two years but is still very high.