Unemployment rises 12.17% during April

April has seen a 12.17% rise in the number of people registering at the unemployment office compared with March. 

A further 50,763 people registered as unemployed during the month to bring the total to 467,810 without work in Catalonia. This is the highest figure seen since May 2016, when there were 486,123 out of work.

Compared to April 2019, the increase in people without work is 22.59%, a jump of 86,212 more people.

At a press conference, the secretary of Labor, Josep Ginesta, assessed the historic increase and said he hopes to begin stopping the destruction of employment in May despite the uncertainties of the lockdown de-escalation and evolution of the pandemic.

Ginesta also explained that this Monday Spain's unemployment service had processed 433,804 unemployment applications, which means that it has not yet recognized the benefits for 244,000 Catalan workers affected by temporary layoffs.

Between workers who have not been included in the unemployment registry and domestic worker who have not been able to apply for social services, the Catalan government estimates that up to 300,000 people could be left without the payment of unemployment benefits despite being entitled to it this week.

In March, when the coronavirus public health emergency put a halt to the country, unemployment soared by 5.52%, meaning a further 21,833 people had registered with the unemployment office.

The number of people reported in these figures do not count those who are part of temporary layoffs announced as part of the coronavirus lockdown measures. 

At the latest count on May 4, a total of 704,718 workers from 95,874 different companies in Catalonia were affected by temporary redundancies.

These latest unemployment figures released by the Spanish ministry of social security also indicates that Catalonia lost almost 90,000 jobs in April.

These latest numbers count registrations at the unemployment office, while figures released at the end of April by Spain's statistics institute's labor force survey, which counts quarterly unemployment data, show unemployment in Catalonia sitting at 10.66%, and a total of 411,600 people without jobs.

These numbers report on everybody without work, be they registered with the unemployment office or not, as well as "inactive" people in the country. 

The data shows the impact of the first full month spent in coronavirus lockdown, which came into effect on March 14.

In all of Spain, the number of unemployed now sits at 3,831,203 people, a figure that represents an increase of 7.87% and 282,891 more people.

Compared to the same month last year the number rose by 667,637 people, a jump of 21.10%.

According to the ministry, the effect of the Covid-19 health crisis has begun to have a "noticeable" impact on registered unemployment from the beginning of the state of alarm.