Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S unemployment total fell by 24,573 in November with 2.73 million people out of work- the lowest figure for the month since 2007.
It’s only the sixth time since 2000 that there’s been a drop in the penultimate month of the year and comes after three successive months of rises.
As of November, there were 20.8 million people registered as working, an all-time record for that month.
Unemployment among young people under 25 years of age decreased by 2.6% in November, with 5,588 fewer unemployed than at the end of October, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over decreased by 18,985 unemployed (-0.7%).
Secretary of State for Labour, Joaquin Perez Rey, said November’s figures are proof of the ‘extraordinary resilience’ of the work market since the country’s labour reform changes.
“In a normally negative month we are seeing the Spanish economy is becoming less volatile,“ the minister added.
His colleague, the Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suarez, described the November figures as ‘truly remarkable’.
The sector in which there were the biggest unemployment rises were agriculture, with a drop of 2.1%, followed by industry (-1.2%) and services(-0.9%).
Within the services category, there were 116,000 fewer registered workers in the hospitality industry than in October- a fall of 7.7%.
November is traditionally a poor month for hotel, restaurant and bar employment, as the tourism sector takes a breather from the summer and without the expected boost during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
On an annual basis, compared to November last year, education is once leads job creation, with an increase of 134,968 people (12.5% more), followed by hospitality with 73,319 more employed, in spite of the regular seasonal fall.
