Unemployment in Catalonia falls to lowest February level in 17 years

Catalonia’s job market gained momentum in February, setting a new employment record for the month, with 3,776,617 affiliated workers, according to Spain's Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security.

Driven by events like the Mobile World Congress (MWC), a total of 23,373 jobs were created throughout the month, a positive change after three months of declining job creation.

This marks the highest number of people employed in February on record, dating back to 2002.

In Catalonia, there are now 78,084 more people working compared to last year (+2.11%). Unemployment also decreased after two consecutive months of increases, with 2,318 fewer people registered as unemployed (-0.69%).

The total number of unemployed people stands at 334,321, a reduction of 12,052 compared to last year (-3.48%). This represents the lowest unemployment figure for February in 17 years.

Spain 

Unemployment in Spain fell to 2,593,449, a decline of almost 6,000 from February. Compared to February 2024, unemployment fell by 6.05%, with 166,959 fewer people unemployed.

The number of people registered to work with Social Security rose by more than 100,000 people from January (+0.48%) to a total of 21,196,154 affiliated workers, a record high number of people employed for February.

Catalan regions

The upward trend in the number of Social Security registrations was seen in all four regions of Catalonia.

In Barcelona, 15,733 new jobs were created, and the total number of registered workers reached 2,879,811 (+0.55%). Year-on-year, the number of registered workers increased by 59,179 (+2.10%).

In Girona, the number of registered workers rose by 0.98% (+3,448) compared to January, reaching 354,639. Year-on-year, there was an increase of 9,135 people (+2.64%).

In Lleida, the number of registered workers reached 206,935, a 0.68% increase (+1,401) from January. Compared to February 2024, the number grew by 4,715 (2.33%).

Lastly, in Tarragona, 335,232 workers were registered, a 0.84% increase (+2,790) from January, and a year-on-year increase of 1.53% (+5,055).

Unemployment 

Unemployment decreased across all regions, with Lleida experiencing the largest reduction (-1.83%). Other regions saw declines of -0.88% in Tarragona, -0.60% in Barcelona, and -0.55% in Girona.

Origin

Regarding the origin of the workers, 69,537 were foreign nationals, representing a 0.26% increase compared to January, but a 2.07% decrease compared to February of the previous year.