Almost 500,000 jobs have been destroyed in Catalonia since the crisis started according to the UGT

Barcelona (ACN).- Between June 2007 and June 2012, 478,969 jobs had have been lost in Catalonia according to the General Workers Union (UGT). This represents a 15% loss of the total number of jobs that were available five years ago. This Thursday the UGT published its own study, which indicated that the construction sector lost 51% of its jobs in Catalonia, being the sector most affected by the economic crisis. Furthermore, the union estimated that 40,000 jobs were destroyed between January 2011 and June this year because of the budget cuts in the public sector, aiming to reduce public deficit. According to the UGT’s Secretary of Union Policies, Camil Ros, this figure could increase in autumn if the new regulations foreseen in the Spanish Government’s Labour Market Reform are confirmed , which would mean mass redundancies within public companies. This may mean a “layoff avalanche” in the public sector, according to Ros.

In the first five years of the current economic crisis, Catalonia went from having 3,379,085 jobs in June 2007 to 2,883,259 jobs in June 2012. This represents a 15% job loss.  According to the UGT study, the job destruction has affected all the economic sectors. However, the construction sector is the hardest hit, having lost 203,553 jobs in five years (51% of the total). The Catalan industrial sector lost 152,000 jobs, 25% of its employees. The agricultural sector lost 23% of its jobs (10,075 jobs). The service sector only lost 6% of its jobs but since it employs the majority of the population in absolute terms, many jobs were lost, with 130,000 less workers in this sector since June 2007.

Camil Ros said that, in the early stages of the crisis, nobody would have imagined that so many jobs would have been destroyed, “not even the most catastrophist union analysts”. According to Ros, the employment outlook will be “the same or worse” in autumn.