Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S February jobless total stood at just under 2.6 million- the lowest figure for the second month of the year since 2008.
Unemployment fell month-to-month by 5,994 people with 100,340 new jobs created, mostly within the education sector.
Compared to February 2024, unemployment has fallen by 166,959 people -a drop of just over 6%.
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Labour Secretary, Joaquin Perez Rey, said: “In a context of global uncertainty, with obvious geopolitical problems and some elements that impact the smooth functioning of an economy, the work market offers resilience as a result of the latest structural changes that we have introduced as such as labour reforms.”
New jobs have been distributed right across Spain with the most in Catalunya (23,373), the Balearic Islands (14,670) and Andalucia (13,784).
Figures also released on Tuesday showed that 21.1 million people were paying into the Social Security system- a record for any February.
There were 100,000 new contributors last month in what was the largest rise recorded since February 2007, just a year before the outbreak of the financial crisis.
Education, hospitality, and manufacturing accounted for nearly 80% of the increase.
Minister of Social Security, Elma Saiz, said it was ‘a success for the country’.
“Since permanent contracts rose since labour reforms, the numbers who were employed under temporary contracts have fallen,” Saiz added.
