Bittersweet at its core, the latest figures for Alicante come from the Active Population Survey (EPA). The year closed with a record-high level of employment in the province — 848,000 people — yet the pace of job creation slowed markedly, adding only 16,500 new positions compared with 75,000 the year before. In a period shaped by inflation and global uncertainty from conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the last quarter edged toward a softer momentum, with 21,500 fewer jobs recorded. Across the year, declines in industrial and agricultural activity were notable, while services and construction were the drivers of hiring gains.
After a strong rebound following the pandemic, 2023’s balance sheet reveals a return to the pre-crisis employment dynamics, with ongoing increases in jobs. The final quarter also brought another drop in Alicante, coinciding with the close of the peak summer tourism season. This pattern aligned with the broader national trend, where Spain registered a total of 21 million workers, a reduction of 19,000, though Alicante experienced the downturn more acutely than many other provinces. The tourism sector, with its extensive link to services, bore the brunt of this deceleration.
Nevertheless, the sector that generated the most annual employment was services, encompassing all activities tied to tourism. By year-end, this sector employed 642,400 people, showing an increase of 23,500 compared with 2023 despite a dip of 17,100 in the last quarter. The sector’s ongoing dynamism kept construction buoyant as well, with 5,800 more workers than in 2022, bringing the total to 73,900 and an uptick of 200 workers in the final period of the year.
On the flip side, industry faced a downturn driven by softer consumption in international markets and ongoing inflationary pressures. The year concluded with 114,300 industry jobs, representing a loss of 16,800 compared with the prior year and 5,200 fewer than the previous quarter. In agriculture, crops faced tough campaigns, resulting in 18,200 workers, down by 4,000, with 700 of those positions filled in the last three months of the year. These shifts paint a picture of a diversified economy navigating a challenging external environment.
Turning to unemployment, the year 2023 ends with 130,000 people unemployed in the province, down from 149,300 a year earlier but up from the previous quarter by 17,400. Taken together, the unemployment rate stands at 12.28 percent, a nearly three-point improvement from the prior year. The EPA’s provincial picture mirrors broader national adjustments as the labor market seeks a balance between recovering services, stabilizing construction activity, and the ongoing pressures on industry and agriculture.
The overall narrative for Alicante in 2023 is one of resilience amid headwinds. Employment in services remains the cornerstone of job growth, while construction adds momentum and industry wrestles with softer demand. The year’s end brings a clearer understanding of where Alicante stands within the national spectrum: higher employment than a year ago, a still-subdued pace of job creation in the quarter, and continued challenges in sectors sensitive to inflation and global cycles. These data points together provide policymakers, businesses, and workers with a snapshot of the province’s evolving labor market, highlighting areas where caution is warranted and opportunities for investment and workforce development abound. {Data source: EPA; attribution required}