Social Security registers its best April in history after adding 238,436 new affiliates

The hotel industry pulls employment due to hiring for Easter in a record month for female employment

MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Social Security gained an average of 238,436 contributors in April compared to the previous month (1.17%), its highest increase this month in the entire historical series and the second highest increase in any month since there are records, only surpassed by July 2005, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.

This strong increase in employment, which was driven by the gain of almost 120,000 jobs in the hotel industry on account of Easter, placed the total number of contributors to Social Security in average values ​​at 20,614,989 people, "the figure highest in the series", as highlighted by the Department headed by José Luis Escrivá.

In the last year, Social Security has gained 595,908 affiliates in average values, with an interannual growth of 2.98%, a rate higher than that registered in March (2.73%).

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of contributors to Social Security chained its ninth consecutive monthly increase in April after adding the system 128,824 employed compared to March (0.6%), also its best April in history, up to a total of 20,661. 195 affiliates, thus overcoming, for the first time, the barrier of 20.6 million contributors.

In line with what was announced yesterday by the First Vice President of the Government, Nadia Calviño, Social Security affiliation closes a record first four-month period, with a historic rise in employment of 420,301 affiliates in the seasonally adjusted series.

The Ministry has also stressed that the current level of affiliation is almost 1.2 million higher than that existing before the start of the pandemic, in February 2020.

The monthly rise in average affiliates in April was noted in both sexes, although somewhat more among women, who gained 128,382 contributors in the month compared to March (1.3%), compared to an increase in male employment of 110,055 employed ( 1 %).

Thus, the number of working women stood at 9,726,584 affiliates at the end of April, a new all-time record, while the number of employed men ended the fourth month of the year at 10,888,405 contributors.

The average affiliation of foreigners, for its part, grew by 80,786 contributors in April, 3.2% more than the previous month, reaching a record figure of 2,606,683 employed.

By schemes, the General, the most numerous in the system, gained 223,688 average affiliates in April (1.3%), up to a total of 17,215,525 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) added 12,959 affiliates to its ranks ( 0.4%), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,335,194.

Within the General Scheme, the rise in affiliation was widespread, since only the education sector lost jobs, with 1,083 fewer contributors than in March (-0.1%).

The hotel and catering industry led the greatest rise in employment, encouraged by the celebration of Holy Week, gaining 119,618 contributors compared to the previous month (8.9%).

They were followed, by far, by commerce, with 18,713 more employees (0.7%); administrative activities, which added 11,808 new employees (0.8%) and transportation, where affiliation grew by 10,450 contributors (1.3%).

For its part, the Special Agrarian System gained 14,724 jobs in the fourth month of the year (2.1%) and the Home registered 1,080 new jobs (0.3%).

The Ministry underlines that the growth of affiliation with respect to the level prior to the pandemic is "remarkable" in sectors with high added value, such as information technology and telecommunications, which have 21.6% more affiliates than before Covid, or activities professionals, scientists and technicians, where employment has increased by 12.8%.

In fact, according to Social Security, one in four members has joined these "highly productive" sectors since the end of the pandemic.

According to the Ministry, the data for April clearly reflect the positive effects of the labor reform on the stabilization of employment and the improvement of its quality since it came into force 16 months ago.

Thus, the percentage of affiliates with a temporary contract remained at a record low of 14% in April, 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 32 points, from 53% to 21%.

At the same time, Social Security now accounts for almost 2.9 million more members with an indefinite contract than in December 2021, the last month before the entry into force of the labor reform.

The greater stability of employment is also verified, according to the Ministry, in the fact that the average duration of the contracts that have caused leave in the first four months of this year has increased by 62 days compared to the same period of 2019, before of the pandemic.

Of the 4.1 million affiliates who had a temporary contract in the first quarter of 2022 and are still registered, 53% (2.2 million) were permanent in April 2023. The majority, 1.8 million, are permanent ordinary, and 394,000 are fixed-discontinuous.

The sectors where the most temporary have become permanent are those of trade and vehicle repair; hostelry; construction and manufacturing industry.

The average affiliation rose in April in all the autonomous communities. The greatest increases, in absolute terms, were registered in the Balearic Islands (58,832 employed), Andalusia (52,499), Catalonia (38,626) and the Valencian Community (18,361 contributors).

In relative values, the greatest advances were made by the Balearic Islands (11.9%), Cantabria (1.6%), Andalusia (1.57%) and Murcia (1.4%).

Compared to before the pandemic, all regions had higher employment levels in April, especially the communities in the south of the country and the archipelagos, with employment growth of more than 6.4%.

On the other hand, the Ministry has reported that workers in ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons (ETOP) stood at 13,668 at the end of April, slightly below the 13,935 of the previous month and the approximate equivalent to 0 1% of total affiliates.

In total, as of April 30, there were 14,975 workers in ERTE, of which 13,668 were in an ERTE-ETOP and 1,307 in an ERTE due to force majeure.