Catalonia closes 2023 with lowest fourth quarter unemployment since 2007

Catalonia ended 2023 achieving record employment figures with 3.7 million people employed, a figure never before reached in the fourth quarter, according to the latest labor force survey (EPA) published Friday by the Spanish Statistics Institute.

The unemployment rate rose slightly to 8.97% at the end of the year, reaching a total of 366,300 people, but remains the lowest for this period since 2007. Compared to last year, there were 20,900 fewer people unemployed, a drop of 5.4%.

Catalonia recorded the highest growth in employment among Spanish autonomous communities in 2023, ahead of Madrid (5.03%) and the Basque Country (5.02%).

While the overall average unemployment rate has fallen by almost one percentage point in a year, the unemployment rate for those under 25 has risen by five percentage points, from 19.68% to 24.82%.

Compared with the previous quarter, industry was the only sector to record a decline in employment, with 20,400 fewer jobs. Employment growth was concentrated in construction (+3.8 %) and agriculture (+12.9 %), while the services sector remained stagnant.

In Spain,  there were 21,246,900 people employed at the end of 2023, a decrease of 19,000 jobs compared to the previous quarter. The unemployment rate, however, fell to 11.76%, bringing the total number of unemployed below three million.

The Catalan business minister, Roger Torrent, celebrated the latest figures, calling 2023 "a record year" in terms of employment. 

Sharp decline in temporary contracts

Temporary contracts have fallen dramatically in Spain since the implementation of the new labor law, which sought to reduce their use and increase fines for companies using them fraudulently.

In two years, the number of employees on temporary contracts has fallen from 20.2% to 13.3%, and there has been an increase in permanent employment, with 182,600 more workers on this type of contract than in the previous year. 

The decline in temporary contracts has been more pronounced for women, who account for 55% of temporary contracts.