Social Security adds 18,295 affiliates in September driven by 'back to school'

In seasonally adjusted values, membership increased in the month by 12,921 people and by 495,000 contributors until September, more than in all of 2022

MADRID, 3 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Social Security gained an average of 18,295 contributors in September compared to the previous month (0.09%), driven mainly by women and by the increase in employment of more than 85,800 people in the education sector due to the start of the school year.

With this rebound, the system reached 20,724,706 employed people, its highest level in the month of September within the historical series, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, which has highlighted that among the On September 20 and 29, there were more than 20.8 million members in the daily series.

The increase in affiliation registered in September of this year is the lowest in this month since fiscal year 2019, when the system barely gained 3,224 average employees. In September of last year it increased by 29,286 contributors and in the same month of 2021 and 2020, 57,387 and 84,013 members were added.

In the last year, Social Security has gained 544,508 affiliates in average values, with a year-on-year growth of 2.70%, a rate similar to that of August.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of Social Security contributors increased in September by 12,921 affiliates (0.06%) compared to the previous month, up to a total of 20,735,911 workers.

The Ministry has highlighted that, in seasonally adjusted values, 495,017 jobs have been created in the first nine months of the year, more than in the entire year 2022 and the highest figure in the series in a January-September period discounting 2005 and 2021, years that They were affected, respectively, by the extraordinary regularization and the return to normality after the pandemic.

In addition, the Department headed by José Luis Escrivá has highlighted that the current level of employment exceeds that existing before the start of the pandemic, in February 2020, by more than 1.3 million, of which two out of every three have been created. in the private sector.

The Ministry has also highlighted that, compared to large European countries and with respect to the pre-pandemic level, job creation in Spain (7.1%) has surpassed that of France (4.9%), Italy (2.2%) and Germany (1.3%). The same happens if we look at the gain in employment since the war began in Ukraine: while in Spain employment has grown by 5%, in Italy it has grown by 3% and in France and Germany less than 2%. .

At the end of the ninth month of the year, the contributor/pensioner ratio reached 2.43, its highest value in ten years, while income from contributions grew until August (latest data available) at an interannual rate of 9.8% ( 8% if the quotas from the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism, in force since January of this year, are excluded). According to Inclusion, this rebound in income is due to the "strong dynamism" of the labor market and the higher quality of employment.

The monthly increase in average affiliates in September only affected women, who gained 59,504 contributors in the month compared to August (0.6%), compared to a decline in male employment of 41,208 workers (-0.37%).

After this decrease, the number of working women stood at 9,749,419 members at the end of September, while the number of employed men ended the ninth month of the year at 10,975,377 contributors. The Ministry has highlighted that, compared to the level before the pandemic, female membership has grown by 8.6%, three points more than male membership has increased.

For its part, the average affiliation of foreigners increased in September by 10,462 contributors, 0.4% compared to the previous month, reaching 2,686,990 employed people.

By regime, the General, the largest in the system, gained 15,118 average members in September (0.09%), up to a total of 17,319,728 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) added 5,716 members to its ranks ( 0.17%), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,339,333.

Within the General Regime, the beginning of the school year led education to be the protagonist of the greatest increase in employment, gaining 85,817 contributors compared to the previous month (9.5%). Administrative activities followed far behind, with 19,729 more members (1.4%).

At the opposite extreme, due to the end of the tourist season, the decreases in membership in commerce and hospitality stood out, with falls of 40,024 and 32,223 employed, respectively (-1.5% and -2%). In between was the Public Administration, which lost 39,503 affiliates in the month (-3.2%).

For its part, the Special Agrarian System added 15,967 jobs in the ninth month of the year (2.5%), while the Household System registered 2,284 losses (-0.6%).

The Ministry emphasizes that the growth in membership compared to the pre-pandemic level is "especially intense" in sectors with high added value, such as IT and telecommunications, which has 24.3% more members than before Covid, or professional, scientific and technical activities, where employment has increased by 14.7%.

In fact, according to Social Security, one in four new affiliates, that is, 297,000 people, have joined these two "highly productive" sectors since the pandemic ended.

Likewise, the Ministry highlights that, since 2019, youth employment has grown by 10.4%, exceeding the average for the economy as a whole by 3.4 points. Compared to before the labor reform, in force since December 2021, the increase in employment among young people under 30 years of age reaches 8.4%, almost double the average for all ages (4.5%).

According to the Ministry, the September data "clearly" reflect the positive effects of the labor reform on the stability of employment and the improvement in its quality since this regulation came into force more than a year and a half ago.

Thus, the percentage of members with a temporary contract stood at 14% in September, compared to the average of 30% before the labor reform. In the case of those under 30 years of age, temporary employment has been reduced by 31 points, from 53% to 22%.

At the same time, Social Security now has almost three million more members with a permanent contract than in December 2021, the last month before the entry into force of the labor reform.

The greater stability of employment is also confirmed, according to the Ministry, in the fact that the average duration of contracts that have caused sick leave in the first nine months of this year has increased by 29% (up to 256 days) compared to the previous year. same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

Average affiliation fell in September in eleven autonomous communities and rose in six regions, mainly in Madrid (47,764 employed), the Canary Islands (9,956 contributors) and Catalonia (9,394 affiliates).

The largest decreases, in absolute terms, were recorded in the Balearic Islands, which lost 16,445 affiliates, and Andalusia, with 8,160 fewer contributors than in August.

On the other hand, the Ministry has reported that workers in ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons (ETOP) stood at 9,648 at the end of September, below the 9,907 of the previous month.

In total, as of September 30, there were 11,051 workers in ERTE, the approximate equivalent of less than 0.1% of the total affiliates, of which 9,648 were in an ERTE-ETOP and 1,403 in an ERTE due to force majeure. The latter have increased compared to the previous month's figure (1,331).