employment

The Catalan Government considered the figures “worrying” but puts them to a “complicated” financial situation that has provoked an economic uncertainty. On Tuesday, the Government announced an action plan to reduce unemployment in the short term. In Spain, there are almost 5 million unemployed people, which represents an unemployment rate of 21.52%. Lleida has Spain’s lowest unemployment rate, set at 13.02%.

The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment has stressed that the Government’s objective is to reduce unemployment by half by 2014. The plan foresees ten measures, with a special focus on the long-term unemployed. Some of the measures include incentives to SME companies to hire the long-term unemployed, collaborating with private temporary work agencies, enlarging the network of education classrooms and relocating staff from the Catalan Public Employment Service to provide job search council and other direct services.

September has been a bad month for employment over the last number of years, but this past September is the worst in the last 11 years. The Spanish Government has blamed the budget cuts undergone by the Autonomous Communities for the unemployment increase. The Spokesperson for the Catalan Government considers Madrid’s statements as “offensive” and “pitiful”, and he stressed that the Spanish Government had asked them to double their public spending cuts. He also added that the Spanish Government has not paid the money that it owes.

A total of 584,648 people have ended up on the Public Employment Service of Catalonia (SOC) list of registered unemployed, representing an increase of 13,779 people, 2.41% more in relation to in July this year.

The unemployment rate decreased for the third consecutive month. However, last June the reduction was inferior to that experienced in June 2010. June is traditionally a good month for employment figures, because of the high number of tourism-related new contracts.

April numbers have broken a three-month continuous trend of unemployment increases. In total there were 601,541 people registered as unemployed at the end of April.

The Catalan Ministry of Economy and Knowledge has released its macroeconomic outlook for 2011. At the end of the current year, the unemployment rate will be 18%, up from 2010.

Unemployment registers in Catalonia increased by 8,658 people in March. One in four jobseekers does not receive any public assistance. In addition, training courses for jobseekers have run out of funding and are waiting for the new budget to be approved by the Catalan Government.

The French train manufacturer plans to lay off 1,380 employees at its plants in Germany, Italy and Spain. Alstom’s Spanish factory, which has 900 staff members is located in Santa Perpètua de la Mogoda, in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

The new employees hired will be people currently out of work. The Spanish car manufacturer, which is part of the Volkswagen group, has its factory in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. SEAT will for the next five years invest 300 million euros annually.

The new Minister for Business and Employment is an independent, expert in Managerial Economics and austerity measures. He was the Director of ESADE Business School’s Economics Department (1992-2000), where he was teaching until now. He has a PhD in Economics and a Bachelors degree in Law. Mena has experience in the private sector consultancy and banking, especially in the area of Tourism and Analysis, as well in international markets, particularly in emerging economies.

The decrease in the number of jobless has been fuelled by an improvement in the industrial and construction sectors. In Spain, unemployment has risen to more than 4 million people.

Madrid-based professionals are paid 2.24% more than in Catalonia and 20% more than in València. Catalonia’s salaries decreased, after having reached salary parity with Madrid in practical terms. The crisis has stopped salary convergence throughout Spain.

Unemployment has increased in the service and agricultural sectors. However, it decreased in the industry and construction sectors. Unemployement has increased throughout Catalonia, although Lleida is the most affected province. Unemployment has also increased in the rest of Spain.

The 3rd term (July-September) ended with less people unemployed in Catalonia, concretely 6,700 people less. The unemployment rate has decreased 3 decimals and is now 17.41% of the active population. In addition, Catalonia represents half of all the new jobs created in Spain this term, with 34,500 jobs created. It is the first time in the last year that unemployment has dropped for the whole of Spain.