economic sectors

Unemployment in Catalonia fell by 10.7% in March in comparison to the same month last year, totaling 446,017 people. According to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security, 6,325 people left the unemployment lists last month, which represents a slight 1.40% decline in comparison to February. However, with this drop, Catalonia has now registered 45 consecutive months of declining unemployment in annual terms. The number of jobless also fell across the whole of Spain. There were 48,559 fewer unemployed at the end of March and the number of people without a job totaled 3,702,317. Moreover, the number of unemployed in comparison to the same month last year fell by 9.58%, the highest decline registered in March since the beginning of the historic series.

The number of people unemployed and registered as such at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) at the end of October increased by 7,325 peoplecompared to the September figures, a growth of 1.62%, according to data released on Monday by the Spanish Ministry for Employment. In total, there were 458,406 individuals who were without a job and were looking for a new one. In the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 44,685 people in October, which means that the total number of jobseekers registered on the Public Employment Service’s lists reached 3,764,982. Within the last 12 months, unemployment in Spain fell by 411,387individuals, 9.85% less than last year.The construction sector is the only area where unemployment decreased in both Catalonia and Spain. 

The number of people registered on the unemployment lists in Catalonia in July stood at 441,016 people, 9,044 fewer than in June, according to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. July represents the sixth consecutive month in which the unemployment rate has decreased and has now returned to 2008 levels, in particular those of December of that year, when the number of unemployed in Catalonia stood at 423,232. Since 2010 unemployment has usually fallen in July, due to seasonal contracts and summer sales. However, this year not only the services but all economic sectors contributed to this decline. In the whole of Spain, the number of unemployed fell by 83,993 and totalled 3,683,061, the biggest decline in July since 1997.