The month of April almost always brings good news in terms of employment, and this year it has brought it doubly. Due to the 223,685 new registered affiliates, the third largest increase in the series for this month, although slightly less than last year, and also because it represents a new record, surpassing 22.1 million contributors. The Spanish labor market had never reached 22 million before, and now it has done so by a wide margin.
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In this month, which included much of Holy Week and with the upcoming perspective of the start of the summer season, hospitality is the great driver of employment, with 111,000 new jobs, that is, half of the total new affiliates. Far behind are commerce and administrative activities, each with just over 13,000 new affiliates; and then transport, with 12,000. It is very clear that hospitality has driven employment this past month.
This time the 22 million record was indeed broken; this was not the case in March. Then, although the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, appeared unexpectedly on social media wearing a Spanish national team jersey with the number 22, announcing that 22 million affiliates had been reached, the statement was only correct for the seasonally adjusted series, that is, discounting the calendar effect, not for the original series. The seasonally adjusted figure is valid for capturing the underlying employment trend, but it is not the one usually used for monthly data.
These good April figures contrast with the EPA for the first quarter of the year, which recorded weak numbers, raising the question of whether the strong cycle of the Spanish labor market was beginning to weaken. However, both the March affiliation data, which were positive, and those of this April, with good tone and a global record, show that employment remains resilient.
Looking into the details of April, the highest employment figures are recorded both among men, with 11.6 million affiliates, and among women, who approach 10.5 million. Thus, female affiliates represent 47.5% of total employment, the highest percentage ever reached. This was highlighted by the Minister of Inclusion and Social Security, Elma Saiz, who stated that “in April almost 10.5 million female affiliates were registered, the highest figure in the series. In addition, foreign affiliation continues to set records, approaching 3.25 million.”
Unemployment data for April are also positive. A reduction of 62,668 unemployed, slightly less than last year, but which allows the total number to fall below 2.4 million unemployed. This limit is crossed for the first time since June 2008, that is, before the financial crisis.
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The reduction in unemployment is widespread, across all sectors, and also in all autonomous communities. By sectors, the absolute numbers stand out with a decrease of 46,000 unemployed in services, and 3,600 in both industry and construction. The number of those without previous employment also decreases by almost 7,000.
By territories, in absolute numbers, the largest drop is recorded in Andalusia, with 22,000 fewer unemployed, followed by Catalonia, with 8,900, and Madrid at a greater distance, with 6,200.
Another confirmation offered by the data published today is a stronger reduction in unemployment among women, placing the total at 1.4 million unemployed women, the lowest figure since September 2008. Also by age, the reduction of 19,000 young unemployed places the total below the 170,000 barrier, its historic minimum.
In this month, 1.2 million contracts were registered, of which 43% were permanent. Of these 543,000 permanent contracts, 42% are full-time, 24% part-time, and 34% fixed discontinuous.
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