7,500 new jobseekers in August, lowest number of unemployed since 2008

Unemployment in Catalonia went up in August for the second month in a row according to figures made public by Spain's labor ministry on Monday morning.

But with 7,516 new jobseekers and a total of 338,872 people out of work, last month saw the lowest number of unemployed in August since 2008.

2.27% more people were out of work in August than in July, 3.44% less than the same month a year prior. 

Employment, meanwhile, was down 1.61%, with 60,318 fewer workers in August than in July. 

3,369,395 people were employed last month, 100,636 more (+2.80%) than in August 2022. 

Unemployment in Spain

Unemployment grew in Catalonia at a higher rate than anywhere else in Spain, followed by the Valencia region (+3,190 people) and Andalusia (2,882 people). 

In most parts of the country, however, unemployment went up by under 1% month-on-month in August. 

Across Spain, there were 24,826 more people out of work and a total of 2,702,700 unemployed last month, 7.6% less than in 2022. 

Unemployment tends to go up as summer comes to an end due to the elevated number of people working in the tourism-dependent hospitality industry. 

"Usual" increase for the government

The Catalan government considers the increase "usual" for the month of August, but highlights that it is the "lowest increase since 2017."

Enric Vinaixa, Catalonia's secretary of labor, mentioned that "it is not an alarming situation" and even referred to the figures published by Spain's labor ministry as "positive." 

Vinaixa also pointed out that there have not been any labor accidents related to high temperatures: "We have done an important task of spreading awareness and we have only registered two mild faints." 

Trade association "worried"

However, the main Catalan trade association for small- and medium-sized companies, Pimec, views the latest unemployment data in Catalonia in comparison to the rest of Spain with "worry." 

The secretary-general of the group, Josep Ginesta, highlighted that in comparison to July, "one-third of the newly unemployed people in all of Spain come from Catalonia".

Pimec has questioned the labor regulations stating that "it is not capable of reversing the behavior of the economy in Spain," that is marked by the seasonality of the labor market.