jobs

By the end of July there were 6,859 fewer people registered at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) than a month ago, which leaves the total number of registered unemployed individuals at 610,429. The current amount of jobseekers is now the same level as September 2011. Unemployment levels have been decreasing in Catalonia for the last five consecutive months. In addition, last July’s drop is the most significant reduction in this month of the year since 2010. In the whole of Spain, the unemployment rate decreased by 1.36%, with 64,866 fewer people registered at the Public Employment Service offices. This means that by the end of July there were 4,698,814 individuals registered as unemployed in Spain. The Catalan Government states that, if the trend is kept during the second semester, the economic crisis would have reached “its lowest level” earlier this year.

By the end of June, there were 873,000 people in Catalonia without work and looking for employment, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). This represents 29,300 fewer individuals than 3 months ago, which is the highest unemployment reduction in the second quarter of the year since 2002. However, employment levels have only increased by 11,800 people, which means that this year Catalonia has experienced the lowest increase in job creation for this period of the year since 1998. The Catalan unemployment rate is now 23.85%, while the Spanish average is 26.6%. In the whole of Spain, the number of people unemployed decreased by 225,200, which means that the total number of unemployed people is now below the psychological landmark of 6 million individuals (5,977,500).

The Catalan Parliament has devoted a two-day plenary session to debate the youth unemployment problem and how it could be reduced. According to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA), the youth unemployment rate in Catalonia reached 52.7%. This means that 1 out of 2 youngsters between 16 and 24 years old who want to work cannot find a job. Around 151,000 youngsters are unemployed in Catalonia; 64% of them worked in the service sector and 17% have never worked. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, asked to manage the proportional share of the European Union’s funds allocated to fight youth unemployment in Spain, since the Catalan Executive holds the competences.

The Workers Commissions trade union (CCOO) has issued a study calculating that 595,000 jobs have been lost in Catalonia since 2008. Furthermore, the number of unemployed people has increased by 428,000 individuals. The study also revealed that the active population was reduced by 85,900 people (-2.3%) between 2011 and the last quarter of 2012. The Socio-Economy Secretary of CCOO said at the presentation of the study that “there are no objective indications of a short-term recovery of the economy or employment levels”.

Registered unemployment in Catalonia decreased by 3.87% in June compared to the previous month’s figures. June is a month when unemployment tends to be reduced due to summer jobs, but last month registered the highest drop since 1996. The total number of people registered as unemployed at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) by the end of June reached 617,288 individuals. However, compared to a year ago, registered unemployment increased by 1,712 people, 0.28% more than in June 2012. In the whole of Spain, registered unemployment also increased in annual terms (+3.2%) and decreased compared to a month ago (-2.6%). Catalonia is the Autonomous Community where unemployment decreased the most in monthly terms. Furthermore, in the Lleida Province (Western Catalonia), unemployment also decreased in annual terms.

The company working on creating mobile applications and payment systems will arrive in the Catalan capital in July. It will start by creating 75 direct jobs but its plans are to gradually increase staff figures. Transax will operate from Barcelona to Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. The Catalan Government’s Invest in Catalonia programme has facilitated the Canadian company’s arrival. Furthermore, the Catalan Business Minister emphasised that Catalonia was the European region that received the greatest direct foreign investment in 2012, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The number of jobseekers registered with the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) decreased by 7,055 people last month, which leaves the total number at 656,995 unemployed individuals. The figure represents 21,274 more jobseekers than a year ago, an annual increase of 3.35%. In April, all the economic sectors contributed to the reduction in the level of registered unemployment. In the whole of Spain, the number of people officially registered as unemployed decreased by 0.91%, setting the total number of jobseekers below 5 million individuals (4,989,193), 46,050 fewer people than a month ago. The Catalan Government considered the April figures to be “positive” but also “insufficient”.

By the end of March, unemployment in the whole of Spain set a new historical record high with a rate of 27.16% and more than 6.2 million people being without a job and looking for a new one. This represented a quarterly increase of 237,400 individuals and a yearly growth of 563,200 people. In Catalonia, 902,300 people were unemployed by the end of March, 17,100 more individuals than three months previously and 65,300 more than a year ago. This sets a new historical record high for Catalonia too, breaking the previous one just set three months ago with a rate of 23.9% unemployment by the end of 2012. Unemployment increased throughout Catalonia except in the western Lleida province where it has been decreasing over the last year.

The number of people registered as unemployed at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) was reduced by 0.17% in March, compared to data from February. The total number of unemployed people in Catalonia registered at the SOC was 664,050 by the end of March, 1,126 fewer than in the previous month. However, this is 25,083 more people than a year ago. In the whole of Spain, the number of unemployed people decreased by 4,979 individuals last month. However, there are still more than 5 million people officially registered as unemployed in Spain. At the end of March there were 284,376 more people registered as unemployed than were registered a year ago, which is an increase of 5.99%.

The number of unemployed people had reached 885,000 individuals by the end of 2012, a record high, with 110,000 more jobseekers than a year ago. This means that Catalonia’s unemployment rate increased from 20.5% to 23.9% in the last twelve months, breaking the previous record of 22.8% from the third quarter of 1985. In the whole of Spain, unemployment reached a rate of 26%, while a year ago it was 22.85%. It increased by 13.1% over the last twelve months, adding 691,700 more jobseekers to the list. Spain reached a historical high of 5.97 million people being unemployed.

646,306 people were unemployed in Catalonia at the end of October. This is the highest figure since the start of this data series in the year 2000. Over the last month, unemployment in Catalonia grew by 2.19%, while a year ago, in October 2011, it grew by 2.43%. However, October 2012 was the third consecutive month with an increase in the number of people registered on the SOC lists. For the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 128,242 people in October and reached 4,833,521 individuals without a job who were searching for a new one. Regarding geographical distribution, unemployment increased in all of the four Catalan provinces.

Unemployment increased over the third quarter of the year in Catalonia, with 18,800 more people being added to the lists of the Catalan Public Employment Service. By the end of September there were 840,000 people without a job and looking for a new one, 98,400 more jobseekers than a year ago, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA), published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In the whole of Spain, the unemployment rate reached 25.02% at the end of September, with 85,000 more jobseekers registered than three months ago. According to the EPA, Spain has reached an historical high of unemployed people with 5,778,100 individuals recorded.

The number of unemployed people increased in Catalonia over the month of August, ending a positive trend of five consecutive months of drops. However, August is traditionally a month with an increase in unemployment, and this August’s has been the lowest increase since 2006.

The trade union UGT has calculated that 478,969 jobs have been destroyed in Catalonia between the June 2007 and June 2012. Furthermore, the union fears a “layoff avalanche” next autumn in the public sector.

According to a report by the trade union CCOO, with the Spanish Government’s last budget adjustment, after the sixth month of being unemployed people will no longer receive an average of €222 per month. The report points out that people aged between 45 and 55 will be the most affected since many are in a long-term unemployment situation and will no longer qualify to receive any subsidies. Cristina Faciaben from the CCOO is convinced that the last series of measures to reduce the public deficit will not achieve its objective, and on the contrary will lead to a worsening of the economic crisis.