Unemployment rate falls for fifth consecutive month

The number of people registered as unemployed fell for the fifth month in a row as Catalonia recorded its lowest unemployment rate for June since 2008. 

In total, there were 329,744 people without work in Catalonia during the month of June. That is 6,359 fewer compared to the month of May, a 1.89% decrease.

 

In the last 12 months, unemployment in Catalonia has decreased by 2.47%. That is 8,337 less people unemployed year-on-year.

June tends to be a very good month for employment rates because of the high demand for services due to tourism. This year, employment in Catalonia increased to 3,742,781, the highest ever total for a second consecutive month. 

In Spain, there were 50,268 fewer people registered as unemployed compared to June last year. In total, 20,869,940 people were registered as employed. 

Women continue to make up a majority (57%) of people employed, while the unemployment rate for people under 25 continued to fall in June, by 4.4%.

Two ways of calculating unemployment

The figures differ from those from the latest Labor Force Survey (EPA in Spanish), which is published every three months. The variation in the figures can be attributed to the different methods for gathering data.

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

According to the latest EPA, showing figures for the first quarter of 2023, the jobless rate stood at 10.37%.

 This meant an overall increase of 20,000 people without jobs to a total of 407,200 people.

For the first time in six quarters, there are more unemployed workers than a year before 

Yet, at the same time, the total number of employed people has gone up to 3.52 million, the highest number in a first quarter since 2008.