Catalan economy back to pre-crisis GDP but with 438,000 fewer jobs

According to the Report on the Catalan Economy presented by Vice President and the Minister of Economy and Treasury Oriol Junqueras on Thursday, the country’s total wealth was seven billion euros higher than in 2008, when the financial crisis began, at 223.6 billion euros. In 2016, the Catalan economy broke even records in exports and foreign investment, with a third successive year in GDP growth, of 3.5%.

Yet, it was not all good news. Despite the Catalan economy making it through the crisis years in fairly good shape, it has been at the expense of 438,000 jobs. The minister expressed the Catalan government’s “concern” over the high level of unemployment, but pointed to “positive hints” that suggest the jobless rate of 15.7% at the end of 2016 will drop to around 11% during 2018.