Spain sees record employment rates although unemployment rises

Spain ended this year’s third quarter with a new record employment rate of 21.3 million people despite the overall rise in unemployment as figures for youth remained well above an “acceptable ceiling” by EU standards, a report from the National Statistics Institute (INE) reads.

According to the report, the Spanish labour market created 209,100 jobs in this year’s third quarter, mainly driven by services, and registered a record 21.26 million workers, the Labour Force Survey released by the INE revealed.

At the same time, however, the overall unemployment rate rose by 92,700 people to a total of 2.85 million, bringing the unemployment figure in Spain to 11.84%.

Unemployment among the under 25s has fallen very slightly – by 0.12 points in the third quarter of the year – to 27.82 %: its lowest level in 15 years, compared to 2008.

However, the total number of unemployed youth increased to 518,100 people, 50,500 more than in the previous quarter, a negative trend recorded mainly in the 20-24 age groups and among men, according to the INE study.

Low salaries, job insecurity and high unemployment among young Spaniards are one of the main obstacles to their emancipation, and make it difficult for them to access home ownership, among other hardships.

Many young single people or couples cannot easily access mortgages, and spend well over 30% of their salaries on rent, which is well above the recommended “safe debt limit”, according to many experts.

Total unemployment figures among 20-24-year-olds have risen to 376,100 people, 30,600 more than in the previous quarter, while among 16-19-year-olds unemployment has risen by 19,900 people, to a total of 142,000, the report reads.

The active population, which includes workers and people looking for work, increased in the third quarter by 301,900 people, to 24.12 million, and also reached a new all-time high, according to the report.

Wage increases, extra anti-inflation measures

Spain’s two main trade unions, CC.OO and UGT, have been calling for more wage increases to soften the effect of the sharp rise in inflation and its impact on the price of food, fuel and other basic products.

Last May, UGT, CC.OO and Spain’s main employers’ association (CEOE) reached an agreement on a wage increase of 4% in 2023, 3% in 2024 and another 3% in 2025.

Pepe Álvarez, UGT´s Secretary General, has called this week for the minimum wage (SMI) in Spain – currently at €1,080 – to reach €1,200 euros (in 14 payments), and for the maximum working week to be limited to 35 hours, which would “improve productivity”.

The SMI would have to be at €1,200 to be equivalent to 60% of the average wage in Spain, Álvarez defended, as quoted by Spanish media.

According to UGT, the evolution of fuel prices has turned “filling the tank” into a rare “luxury” beyond the reach of many domestic economies in Spain.

INE data from last September revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Spain was 3.5%, nine-tenths of a percentage point higher than that recorded in August, while the annual inflation rate stood in September at 5.8%.

Shortly after the publication of the INE report, CC.OO urged on Thursday to “avoid triumphalist analysis ”. An unemployment rate of 11.84% is far from the EU average (5.9% in August), the trade union stressed.

“We must not only be satisfied with a reduction in the unemployment rate, but we must achieve full employment”, the union’s Secretary for Employment, Mari Cruz Vicente, stated, EFE reported.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)