Unemployment remains the biggest fear of Catalans

Madrid (ACN).- Unemployment figures in Catalonia experienced a slight improvement at the end of 2010, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Employment and Immigration. The figure fell by 0.33% in December compared to November. According to the figures, there were 562,673 people without jobs in December, 1868 less than in November. The annual assessment shows a slight increase of 0.16% in the figure in comparison to the end of 2009. In general, unemployment in Spain dropped 10,221 people in December. 2010 closed with 4,100,073 unemployed in the Spanish state. 

Catalonia concluded 2010 with a registered unemployment figure of 562,673 unemployed, a slight increase of 0.16% compared to 2009 figures. The trend is repeated throughout the regions with the exception of Barcelona, where 3,193 fewer are unemployed, representing an annual reduction in unemployment of 0.76%. In Girona, Tarragona and Lleida, the annual difference stood at 0.99%, 2.7% and 7.43% respectively.

This means that Girona closed 2010 with 538 more unemployed people, Tarragona with 1668 and Lleida with 1899 more. In December, unemployment fell by 0.6% in Barcelona and 0.41% in Girona. In contrast, in both Lleida and Tarragona, the figure rose by 0.96%.

Recovery of the services sector

The services sector is primarily responsible for reducing unemployment in Catalonia and in Spain in December. This sector recovered about 2,783 jobs in November. Agriculture also provided a positive balance in the unemployment figure, as it recovered 339 jobs. In contrast, the industry and, especially, construction, have been a burden with 102 and 2635 more unemployed in the two sectors at the end of last year.

The registered unemployment figure confirms that the services sector leads in absolute numbers, with an unemployment figure of 331,303 people. In construction, there are currently 96,735 unemployed and 95,584 in industry. Regarding agriculture, this sector brings 9857 people to the unemployment lists.

With regard to the Spanish state, the service sector has also registered the largest decrease in the number of unemployed.There are currently 30,409 less people unemployed in this sector. Regarding agriculture, the sector has recovered 6,867 jobs. On the other hand, industry and construction lost 6,197 and 28,976 employed people.

Sex, age and origin

With regard to gender, unemployment has increased slightly in men. The number of unemployed males in late December was 296,648, while in November it was 294,937. In the case of women, unemployment has decreased and has gone from 269,604 in November to 266,035 in December.

Youngsters under 25 represent 8.23% of the total unemployment rate. Thus, the figure has dropped slightly in November, when it was 8.8%.

Immigrants have benefited from the decline in unemployment in December, but still register a high unemployment. This group recuperated 104 jobs, at 0.08%. In total, there are 131,294 unemployed immigrants in Catalonia, 8,031 more than a year ago. Therefore, the annual difference is 6.52%. Most of the 104,631 unemployed immigrants are from outside the European Union. 

Unemployment, the main concern of citizens

Unemployment remains the main concern of Spaniards, according to the latest barometer of the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS). Economic and political concerns are of the gravest of citizens. According to the research, 78.6% cite unemployment as their principal concern, 52% cite economical problems and 19.3% cite political concerns. 67.4% believe that the political situation is 'bad' or 'very bad'.

The situation appears quite pessimistic with 49.8% feeling that the situation will get worse. 49.8% of respondents believe that the latest barometer of unemployment will worsen during 2011, while 24.3% believe that the situation will remain the same. Only two in ten think that the circumstances will improve and that unemployment will go down. These concerns were followed by that of immigration, citizen insecurity and terrorism.