Employment suffered in January, a usually bad month for the labor market, with 231,250 fewer members on average and an increase in unemployment of 60,404 people after the end of the Christmas campaign.
According to data published this Friday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, this decrease in employment, focused on hospitality and commerce and the highest for the start of the year since 2020, leaves the total number of affiliates at 20.6. millions.
Along with this, unemployment increased by those 60,404 people in January, with less intensity than in the average of the last months of January, until leaving the total number of unemployed people registered in the Offices of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) in 2,767,860, minimums for the beginning of the year since 2008.
In year-on-year terms, unemployment has registered a decrease of 140,537 people, while membership has increased by 523,537 people.
By sectors, the increase in unemployment was concentrated among workers who came from services (58,721 more unemployed), with a small contribution from agriculture (1,256 more) and industry (440 more), as well as from the group without previous employment ( 1,221 more).
On the contrary, unemployment decreased in construction, by 1,234 people.
female unemployment
Female unemployment increased by 41,904 women, to 1.6 million unemployed, while men’s unemployment increased by 18,500 men, reaching almost 1.11 million.
Among young people, unemployment increased by 7,189 people to 201,154, the lowest figure for the month of January in the historical series.
By autonomous community, unemployment increased in 16 regions, with the largest increases in Andalusia (20,077), Madrid (9,646) and the Valencian Community (4,363), while it only decreased in the Balearic Islands, by 582 people.
Greater falls in employment in hospitality and commerce
In terms of employment, by activity, the greatest declines in membership occurred in the hospitality industry, with 46,594 fewer employed persons, followed by commerce with a drop of 45,093 members and administrative activities and auxiliary services, with a decline of 42,552 employed persons.
The decrease in membership was somewhat greater among women, 119,879 less employed, to 9.73 million, than among men, with a drop of 111,371, to 10.86 million.
Looking at other January months, this year’s decline in affiliation is the largest since 2020, when 244,044 jobs were destroyed.
However, Social Security highlights, the total number of average affiliation, with those 20.6 million workers, is the highest in a month of January in the series and that of employed women continues at maximums.
In the seasonally adjusted and calendar-adjusted terms offered by Social Security in January, 38,357 more workers have been registered, up to 20.8 million employed people.
Regarding the total number of contracts registered during the month of January, it was 1,185,600, of which 42% (506,622) were of an indefinite nature.
Almost half of these permanent contracts, 243,365, were full-time; 116,889, part-time; and 146,368, fixed discontinuous.
Likewise, during this first month of the year, 678,978 temporary contracts were signed, 22,613 less than in December 2023, with the majority of those signed (70%) due to production circumstances.
BY: Usmana Kousar
