The labor market, once again, surprises with a hitherto unknown strength, which is resisting against all odds all the shocks that an economy is suffering that is already beginning to glimpse certain symptoms of deceleration. Neither inflation, nor war, nor the rise in rates are making a dent in employment that does seem to have changed direction and is now capable of growing more independent of GDP than ever and well above it.
What’s more, in a scenario of economic cooling and geopolitical uncertainty, the labor market has shown unusual dynamism this summer after accelerating its annual rate to 3.5% and adding more than 200,000 new jobs, specifically 209,100, three times as many as a year ago, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday by the INE.
This acceleration has made it possible to set a new record and exceed 21.2 million employed people for the first time, although it should be remembered that this figure includes workers with discontinuous permanent contracts even if they are in periods of inactivity, which have skyrocketed after labor reform. At the same time, temporary employment remains stable for the third consecutive quarter at 17.3%, its lowest value in the series; The number of employees with permanent contracts reaches a ceiling (almost 15 million) and part-time contracts are being cut.
This acceleration has made it possible to set a new record and exceed 21.2 million employed people for the first time, although it should be remembered that this figure includes workers with discontinuous permanent contracts even if they are in periods of inactivity, which have skyrocketed after labor reform. At the same time, temporary employment remains stable for the third consecutive quarter at 17.3%, its lowest value in the series; The number of employees with permanent contracts reaches a ceiling (almost 15 million) and part-time contracts are being cut.
However, the bitter side of the Spanish labor market lies precisely in its main Achilles heel: the high number of unemployed, which, far from decreasing, as is usual at this time and even more so if the economy is going well, has increased in 92,700 people, the second worst figure in the last decade.
Despite this strong increase, the unemployment rate has risen by just a couple of tenths to 11.84%, which is explained by the significant increase in the active population that has been registered throughout this summer. This is the main explanation why, having created more than 200,000 jobs in this period, unemployment has increased by almost 100,000. It is because this group of people of working age and willing to do so has grown by more than 300,000 people, to exceed 24.1 million, another historical maximum.
On the other hand, the number of long-term unemployed increases due to the difficulties that this group has in re-entering the market and is now close to 40% of the total number of unemployed, while households with all their members unemployed have rebounded and exceed 928,000.
Industry rebound
Logically, the services sector is the one that has pulled the most in employment in this summer season in which tourism has definitively left the pandemic behind and has once again set another record. Thus, two thirds of the new jobs, 138,700, have been generated in the main sector of the Spanish economy, while, on the contrary, agriculture has once again recorded a loss with more than 27,000 jobs destroyed.
However, the good news is that almost half of these workers who joined the labor market, more than 98,000, have been employed in a sector as important to revitalize the economy and make it stronger as industry, in which In addition, the positions tend to be much more stable and better paid. The number of employed people now exceeds 2.8 million, the highest figure since 2009.
New drop in self-employed
The data for another key activity in the country such as construction also leaves a very good taste in the mouth: there were 19,500 employees in the third quarter and, although it is still far from the employment levels of the real estate bubble, when they were inflated, it is worth highlighting that unemployment in this sector has reached its lowest levels since 2007 and for the first time in history it is below 100,000 people.
Companies are the ones that have created practically all employment in these three months, adding 192,200 workers, the largest increase since the summer of 2016. On the contrary, the private sector has suffered one of the worst behavior in recent years, create just 17,000 positions, despite the fact that the Government has launched the largest public employment offer in history. In any case, it marks a new record with 3.53 million civil servants.
Another shadow left by this EPA is the poor data on self-employment, which is once again losing personnel. Thus, 60,200 self-employed workers left and the total number of entrepreneurs fell to 3,136,100.
Those employed work less than ever: 29.5 hours on average
Although the measure that the Government is considering to reduce the working day to 37.5 hours a week has not yet seen the light, the reality is that, currently, Spanish workers work less than ever: 29.5 hours on average , the minimum of the entire historical series and six hours less than a decade ago, when it far exceeded 35 hours. It should be noted, however, that the more than 2.6 million part-time employees influence this average, which is ten hours below the legal working day.
However, the total number of hours worked has increased by 2.4% in the last year, an important advance but more than one point below employment.