Unemployment in Catalonia increases by 8,090 people after five consecutive months of drops

Madrid (ACN).- The number of people registered as unemployed in Catalonia increased by 8,090 individuals at the end of last August, compared to a month ago, according to data released this Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. This represents a 1.32% increase compared to July, which breaks the positive trend of five consecutive months with unemployment drops. However, August is traditionally a month with an increase in unemployment, since many summer contracts end. Last August’s rise was the lowest of this period since 2006, when there was an increase of 6,356  unemployed people. For the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 38,179 individuals, breaking the trend of four consecutive months of drops.

Looking at the unemployment trends since 2001, there is always an unemployment increase at the end of August, due to the end of many seasonal contracts, with the only exception being August 2004. This August’s increase was the lowest since 2006, when the financial crisis had not yet started. This trend in August is similar throughout Spain. Since 1997, only in 1997, 1998 and 2000 did the number of unemployed people decrease in August. In the other years it  increased. As for the Catalan case, last August registered the lowest unemployment increase in this month of the year since 2006.

In the last years in Catalonia, unemployment in August increased by 13,779 people in 2011, by 16,703 in 2010, and by 23,218 in 2009. This year, it only increased by 8,090 individuals. For the whole of Spain, the greatest increase in unemployment during August was in 2008, when there were 103,085 more individuals registered as looking for a job than in the previous month. At the end of August this year, there were 38,179 more jobseekers in Spain than at the end of July.

Unemployment increased except in Lleida

In Catalonia, unemployment increased in three provinces but it decreased in Lleida, Western Catalonia. In Lleida Province the number of unemployed decreased by 187 people, a 0.68% drop. In this area, unemployment has been decreasing over the last four consecutive months, with 28,587 jobseekers at the end of last August. However, in relation to a year ago, unemployment has increased by 951 people, representing a 3.44% rise.

Unemployment in Barcelona Province (where two thirds of Catalonia’s population live) increased by 1.49% in August, with 6,972 more people registered on the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC). This makes the total number of jobseekers in Barcelona reach 473,811 individuals. This is the second month in a row with an unemployment increase. Compared to a year ago, it increased by 7%, with 30,991 more people on the SOC lists.

The Province of Girona (north-eastern Catalonia, where the Costa Brava is located) is where unemployment increases the most in relative terms. In Girona there were 1.75% more unemployed people at the end of August compared to a month ago, an increase of 911 individuals. The total number of jobseekers in Girona was 53,045 people at the end of last month, 2,134 more individuals than a year ago, representing a 4.19% annual increase.

Finally, in the Province of Tarragona (southern Catalonia, where the Costa Daurada is located), unemployment increased by 404 over the month of August, a 0.6% rise in relation to July’s figures. The total number of unemployed people in Tarragona reached 67,442 individuals at the end of last month, a 6.57% increase compared to a year ago, with 4,158 more jobseekers registered on the SOC lists.