Catalonia closes 2023 with highest employment figures in 17 years

The monthly unemployment rate in Catalonia increased by 1.02% in December compared to November of 2023, leaving Catalonia with 343,381 unemployed workers at the end of 2023, according to the latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Economy released on Wednesday morning. 

Despite the slight increase, Catalonia closed 2023 with the lowest unemployment rate since 2007. 

Compared with the year before, unemployment numbers were also lower at the end of 2023, with 2,957 more people in jobs compared to December 2022. 

Catalan Business Minister Roger Torrent was positive about 2023, saying it was "an absolute record year" for the Catalan labor market. "We have never had so many people working as we have now," he said.

Torrent celebrated the fact that the threshold of 3.7 million workers enrolled in social security has been exceeded and that Catalonia has had 30 consecutive months of year-on-year decline in unemployment.

However, the minister also acknowledged that the increase in the number of unemployed in December was "unusual" and that the data was "not so positive," especially in the service sector.

Unemployment higher in services sector  

Of the 3,474 new jobseekers in Catalonia, 2,589 came from the services sector, while the construction sector and industry sectors both gained 637 and 383 new employees, respectively.  

57% of all jobseekers in Catalonia in 2023 were women, a total of 196,253.

69,047 of the unemployed in Catalonia in 2023 were foreigners.

Fewer new contracts  

A total of 160,957 new contracts were signed in December 2023, 6.97 % less than in December.

60,437 of the new contracts were permanent, which represents a 10% decrease in new permanent contracts compared to December 2022.

Less unemployment in Spain

In all of Spain, unemployment is also at the lowest level since 2007, having descended 4.59% since December 2022, landing at 2,707,456 job seekers in December of 2023, a result the Spanish Labor Ministry called “very positive.” 

Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and La Rioja are the only three autonomous communities that have seen an increase in unemployment between November and December 2023, while the Balearic Islands have seen the highest increase in employment over the same period, at 3.74%