Unemployment increases in the first quarter of the year and reaches 19.01% of the active population in Catalonia

 Barcelona (ACN).- The first quarter of 2011 has been the worst in the last decade for employment figures. In Catalonia, unemployment increased by 40,900 people at the end of the period and totalled 727.600 jobseekers, according to the Spanish Institute of Statistics. This is the second consecutive quarter with an increase in the number of people registered as looking for a job. The unemployment rate in Catalonia was 19.01% at the end of March 2011, one percentage point more than at the end of 2010. Looking at the employment rate, 34,100 jobs were lost in Catalonia between January and March 2011. However, there are 600 more jobs than those registered a year ago, in March 2010. The activity rate in Catalonia is now 63.07%, with 3.09 million people with a job contract. In Spain as a whole, unemployment figures are “very bad”, the Spanish Minister for Employment admitted. The number of unemployed people is edging very close to the psychological and frightening figure of 5 million jobseekers, in a country of 47 million. At the end of March 2011, there were 4,910,000 million unemployed people in Spain, which represents 21.29% of the active population. It is almost one percentage point more than the figure registered at the end of 2010.

The number of people unemployed in Spain increased by 213.500 between January and March. Compared to the same period last year, unemployment increased by 297,400 people. At the same time, 256,000 jobs were lost in Spain, which set the employment rate at 18,151,000 job contracts. Looking at the different economic sectors, industry destroyed 82,000 jobs, construction 78,500, services 74,600 and agriculture 21,300.

The active population grew by 42,900 people in the first three months of the year in Spain and totals 26.06 million people. The activity rate decreased one decimal and is now 59.88%. The good news is that the female activity rate has reached a new maximum in Spain after increasing 7 hundredths and it is now 52.67%.

In Catalonia, employment drops

The unemployment rate experienced a 5.95% increase, and compared to a year ago, the unemployment increased by 7.6%. The employed population in Catalonia dropped during the first quarter of 2011 by 34,100 people, which represents a three-month drop of 1.09%. It is the second consecutive term the employment rate has dropped, after two other periods of increases. However, looking at one year ago, there are 600 more jobs in Catalonia than in March 2010.

The good news is that the active population, the people with a job or looking for a job, increased by 6,800 people during the first three months of the year. This means a 0.18% increase in one quarter and a 1.38% increase in the last 12 months. The activity rate in Catalonia was set at the end of March 2011 at 63.07%, when three months ago it was 62.86%.

More homes with all its members unemployed in Spain

The number of homes that have all its members without a job increased during the first quarter of 2011 with 58,000 more people. In total there are 1,386,000 homes in Spain with all its members without a job. On the opposite side the number of homes with all its members working dropped by 154,600 people and totals 9,066,000 homes.