New record employment figures in Catalonia with 3.86 million jobs

The labor market reached new heights during the third quarter of 2024, boosted by the summer campaign.

Employment reached a new all-time high with more than 3.86 million workers in jobs, an increase of 53,500 (+1.41%) compared to the second quarter of the year. 

This is according to the latest figures published by Spain's Labor Force Survey (EPA), which are updated every three months.

Compared with Q3 of last year, there are 52,900 more people working in jobs (+1.39%).

In turn, the unemployment rate fell to 8.83%, down by half a percentage point compared to the previous quarter, but slightly above last year's summer rate (8.68%).

The total number of unemployed people stood at 373,900, which is 21,400 less than the previous quarter but 12,100 more than a year ago.

Across Spain, the number of people employed in jobs increased to 21.82 million, with the creation of 138,300 jobs during the last quarter. Consequently, the unemployment rate fell to 11.2%, the lowest since 2008.

The services sector grew the most during the summer months, with 61,900 new jobs compared with Q2.

In contrast, industry and construction registered fewer employees than in the second quarter.

Two ways of calculating unemployment

In Catalonia and Spain, there are two ways of calculating employment and unemployment figures. 

These figures come from the latest Labor Force Survey, which is published every three months, whereas monthly figures are published by the labor ministry calculating the number of registrations with social security.

The variation in the figures can be attributed to the different methods for gathering data.

The EPA figures, published in this article, are taken from surveying a broad sample of 65,000 households - or some 200,000 individuals - all over Spain. The labor ministry figures are based on the number of jobseekers registered with the Employment Service.