Unemployment rate rises to 13.23%, with half a million jobless

The unemployment in Catalonia increased to 13.23% in the third term of 2020, up from 12.78% in the second term – in Spain as a whole, the figure rose to 16.26%.

This means that 506,000 people had no job on September 30, some 33,000 more than three months before, and around 84,000 more than on the same day in 2019.

In the third term, some 96,000 jobs were created, but overall the job loss in the past 12 months is 138,500, according to the figures released on Tuesday morning by Spain's quarterly labor force survey (EPA), which do not include temporary lay-offs.

The number of jobless is the worst since the first term of 2017, when 558,000 people were seeking a job in Catalonia.

Temporary unemployment is also on the rise, with the latest data from the work ministry indicating that since new tighter restrictions were brought in on October 16, a total of 7,782 temporary redundancy schemes, known as ERTOs, have been registered, affecting 57,006 workers. 

Covid-19 continues striking the job market, and especially amidst the dramatic fall in numbers of tourists in summer, with for instance an 80% drop in passengers in Barcelona's El Prat airport.