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Some 33,500 jobs were created between July and September this year

Jobless rate falls to 12% with 20,000 fewer people out of work in the first quarter of 2018

2017 ended with 479,200 unemployed people, with the rate dropping to 12.6%

The number of people unemployed and registered as such with the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) at the end of January increased by 278 people compared to December’s figures, a slight growth of 0.06%, according to data released this Thursday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment. Thus, the number of unemployed in Catalonia totalled 453,923. Despite this increase, the unemployment rates in annual terms has declined for 43 consecutive months and there are 64,157 fewer unemployed now than at the end of January 2016, which represents a 12.38% decrease. In Spain as a whole, unemployment has also grown and stood at 3,760,231 people at the end of January. This means that registered unemployment increased by 57,257 people in Spain, representing a 1.55% rise in comparison to last December.

Unemployment in Catalonia increased by 4,573 people in November and reached 462,969 individuals registered on the lists of the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC). According to the data released by the Spanish Employment Ministry and Social Security, unemployment saw a 1% rise in monthly terms. This increase in jobseekers is the highest registered in November since 2013. The Catalan Secretary General of Employment, Social Affairs and Families, Josep Ginesta, warned that the reduction of unemployment in Catalonia is “slowing down” due to the dependence on seasonal economic sectors. In this vein, he proposed the reconversion and reindustrialisation of Catalonia to create “more and better” jobs.  In annual terms, registered unemployment has decreased, with 58,681 less jobseekers, an 11.25% drop. 

The number of unemployed people in Catalonia dropped to 552,500 people in the third quarter of 2016, representing a decrease of 51,100 people in relation to the second quarter, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). The unemployment rate fell to 14.63%, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2008. The environment of economic recovery, with record numbers in the tourism sector, led to the creation of about 42,700 new jobs, the largest number ever recorded in any of the seventeen regions of Spain. Catalonia closed the third quarter with 3.2 million employed people, a 3.64% increase over the previous year, and was the community with the highest number of people employed, ahead of Madrid (with 2.8 million).

The number of people unemployed and registered as such at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) at the end of September increased by 5,641 people compared to the August figures, a growth of 1.27%, according to data released on Tuesday by the Spanish Employment Ministry. In total, last month there were 451,081 jobseekers. In annual terms, there are 62,106 less people on the SOC lists, a 12.1% drop in comparison to September 2015. In the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 22,801 people in September and the number of people officially registered as jobseekers reached 3,720,297 individuals. However, within the last 12 months, unemployment in Spain decreased by 373,745 individuals, a 9.13% improvement over September 2015.

There were 20,145 fewer unemployed this past June in Catalonia in relation to the previous month, which sets the total number of unemployed at 450,060. Although unemployment usually falls in June, due to seasonal contracts and summer sales, the figure registered this year is situated in numbers not seen since December 2008. With this decline, Catalonia has now registered three consecutive years of declining unemployment in annual terms and June represents the fifth consecutive month in which the unemployment rate has decreased. Catalonia leads the unemployment decline in Spain, where the total number of people unemployed is now 3,767,054, the second lowest figure in the historic series. 

Unemployment has fallen again in Catalonia, with the number of people registered on the unemployment lists of the Employment Service of Catalonia (SOC)  recorded as 470,205 people, 15,918 fewer than in April, according to the Ministry of Employment and Social Security. This is the fourth consecutive month of decline in unemployment for Catalonia, showing numbers that have not been seen since January of 2009, seven years ago, before the economic crisis. In annual terms, there has been a decrease in unemployment by 61,694 people, and 35 consecutive months of annual decreases have now been recorded; additionally, these figures represent the largest drop ever recorded in absolute numbers since the beginning of the records in 1996. Specifically, the services sector saw the most significant decline in unemployment. In Spain as a whole, unemployment has also dropped, to 3,891,403 registered people.

Unemployment in Catalonia at the end of the first trimester of 2016 totalled 660,000 people, 98,100 fewer than in the same period last year. Thus, the unemployment rate was 17.42%, the lowest since the third trimestre of 2010, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). Between January and March 2016, 25,700 joined the labour market and occupation grew in the industry sector. However, it decreased in the services, construction and agricultural sector. In the whole of Spain, unemployment rose by 0.25% this past trimester, setting the unemployment rate at 21% and totalling 4,791,400 people without a job. 

This past February showed the biggest decrease in registered unemployment in Catalonia for 20 years with 7,843 fewer people unemployed than in January. According to official data from the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security released this Wednesday, Catalonia led the decline in unemployment in Spain as a whole and has now accumulated 32 consecutive months of annual decreases. The services sector led the unemployment decrease, followed by industry and construction, whereas the agriculture sector added 522 people to the unemployment lists. While Catalonia was the Autonomous Community which registered the highest drop in unemployment in February, unemployment rose in Spain as a whole by 2,231 people and broke the positive trend registered each February for the last two years. 

Hotels around Barcelona are starting to fill as the city prepares to host the 11^th edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) from the 22^nd to the 25^th of February at the Gran Via venue of the Fira de Barcelona. With between 95,000 to 100,000 visitors expected to attend, the highest number ever for the MWC, Barcelona’s Hotel Association expects to reach full occupancy on the peak days. Although the average rate for a room has gone down from €278 to €237 per night this year, some hotel rooms in central areas like Passeig de Gracia report rooms going for as much as €800 to €1,100 per night. Although the event blocked 26,300 rooms for the event with the city’s hotel association, the high demand for rooms in Barcelona has pushed some participants to look outside the city for rooms in Sitges, Castelldefels and even as far as Girona. 

The Catalan banking group Banc Sabadell earned €708.4 million in 2015, according to figures published by the company. This result is 90.6% higher than that obtained in 2014. The good result of Banc Sabadell in 2015 is mainly due to the integration of the UK bank TSB in June, which added accounts worth €122 million. Without this operation, Banc Sabadell’s net profits would only had grown by 57.8%. Thus, net interest income, which measures the bank’s ordinary activity of receiving deposits and authorising credit, was €3.203 billion, 41.7% higher than in 2014. The internationalisation of Banc Sabadell has already been consolidated and 32% of the credits were authorised abroad. In 2014, this percentage was 6%. The default rate, which has dropped to 7.79%, 5 points less than in 2014, also contributed to Banc Sabadell’s positive result.

There were 87,900 fewer jobseekers at the end of 2015 in comparison to the end of 2014, which represents the biggest annual drop since 2003, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). This represents the 10^th consecutive month in which the rate of unemployment has decreased in Catalonia in comparison to 2014. The unemployment rate in Catalonia at the end of 2015 was 17.7%, 2 points lower than it was on the 31^st of December 2014. In the whole of Spain, there were 678,000 less unemployed at the end of 2015, the biggest drop in absolute numbers. In percentage terms, the unemployment rate was 20.9%, still higher than Catalonia’s.

There were 515,668 unemployed people in Catalonia at the end of 2015, which represents 60,280 fewer jobseekers than there were at the end of last year. This is the lowest figure since 2008, according to data released by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. In December alone, the number of unemployed people in Catalonia decreased by 5,992, which represents a fall of 1.15%. In the whole of Spain, 2015 registered 4,093,508 people without a job, nearly 8% lower than at the end of 2014, which is the highest annual drop in the historical series. More than 1.5 million new contracts were signed in the whole of Spain during 2015, however less than 7% of them were permanent.