Unemployment drops from 2.7 million, to the lowest since 2008, after falling in June by 50,268 people

Permanent contracts decreased by 19.4% in the last year and accounted for 42.3% of the total, while temporary contracting decreased by 12.6%

MADRID, 4 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The number of unemployed registered in the offices of the public employment services fell by 50,268 people in June in relation to the previous month (-1.8%) driven, above all, by the services sector, which concentrated almost 84% of the drop in unemployment.

Thus, at the end of June, the total number of unemployed fell for the first time in 15 years from 2.7 million unemployed. Specifically, the first half of the year ended with 2,688,842 unemployed people, its lowest figure since September 2008, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

The Department headed by Yolanda Díaz has highlighted that the decline in June was of a "generalized" nature, since it affected practically all economic sectors, all age groups and both sexes.

In addition, the Ministry has stressed that, with June, there are already 14 consecutive months in which unemployment is below the barrier of three million unemployed.

The drop in unemployment in June of this year, the fourth in a row after that of March, April and May, is higher than the drop experienced in June 2022, when unemployment fell by 42,409 people. On the other hand, it does not exceed the sharp decline in June 2021, when the return to normality after the pandemic led to a drop in unemployment of 166,911 people, the largest monthly decline ever recorded.

Since the beginning of the comparable historical series, in 1996, unemployment has fallen 26 times in June and has risen twice: in 2008, due to the financial crisis, when it rose by 36,849 people, and in 2020, due to Covid, when rose by 5,107 unemployed.

In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment fell in the sixth month of 2023 by 11,257 people.

In the last year, unemployment has accumulated a decrease of 191,740 unemployed, which is 6.6% less, with a drop in female unemployment of 99,498 women (-5.7%) and a drop in male unemployment of 92,242 men (- 8.3%).

Work has also highlighted that since June 2020, three years ago, more than a million people have left the unemployment lists (-1,174,041 unemployed), which represents a decrease of 30.4%, "a situation that is has occurred despite the economic uncertainty generated by the war on European soil".

Unemployment fell in June in all economic sectors, except in agriculture, where it rose by 220 people (0.2%).

The greatest setback was recorded by services which, encouraged by the arrival of the tourist season, lost 42,133 unemployed in June (-2.1%). It is followed by industry, where it decreased by 4,888 people (-2.2%); construction, with 1,688 fewer unemployed (-0.8%), and the group without previous employment, with 1,779 fewer unemployed (-0.7%).

Unemployment fell in June for both sexes, although more among women. Specifically, female unemployment fell by 30,710 women (-1.8%), compared to a drop in male unemployment of 19,558 men (-1.8%).

Thus, at the end of June, the total number of unemployed women stood at 1,624,317 unemployed, its lowest level since 2008, while the number of unemployed men totaled 1,064,525 unemployed.

By age, unemployment among young people under 25 years of age fell 1.9% in June, with 3,552 fewer unemployed than at the end of May, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over decreased by 46,716 (-1 .8%).

Work has highlighted that with the decline in June, the total number of unemployed under 25 years of age marks a record low of 184,491 unemployed, a figure that represents almost half of that in February 2021.

Registered unemployment fell in June in all the autonomous communities, especially in Andalusia (-8,760 unemployed), Catalonia (-6,359 unemployed) and Galicia (-5,410 unemployed).

In percentage terms, however, the most intense falls were recorded by Asturias (-4.6%) and Cantabria (-4.3%), while the least pronounced corresponded to Madrid (-0.8%) and Andalusia ( -1.2%).

As for the provinces, unemployment fell in June in all of them except Huelva, where it increased by 1,291 unemployed. The greatest decreases in unemployment occurred in Barcelona (-4,103 unemployed), Cádiz (-4,094) and Málaga (-3,487).

Registered unemployment among foreigners decreased by 8,556 unemployed compared to the previous month (-2.4%), until the total number of unemployed immigrants stood at 345,785, which means 17,156 fewer unemployed than a year earlier (-4.7%) .

In June, 1,492,803 contracts were registered, 15.6% less than in the same month of 2022. Of all of them, 631,810 were permanent contracts, a figure 19.4% lower than that of June 2022.

In total, 42.32% of the contracts carried out in June were permanent, a percentage almost two points lower than that registered in May, when the proportion of permanent contracts was 44.25%.

Of the total number of permanent contracts signed in June, 242,351 were full-time, 22.5% less than in the same month last year; 251,967 were permanent-discontinuous contracts (-13.9%) and 137,492 were permanent part-time contracts (-22.8%).

Of all the contracts signed in June, 860,993 were temporary contracts, 12.6% less than in the same month of 2022.

In the first six months of the year, just over 3.42 million permanent contracts have been signed, 4.4% more than in the same period of 2022, and 4.23 million temporary contracts, 32.6% less .

The Ministry has also reported that spending on unemployment benefits reached 1,734.3 million euros in May (latest data available), 9% more than in the same month of 2022.

The benefits paid since January of this year incorporate the increase in the regulatory base to 60% from the seventh month, compared to the percentage of 50% that had been applied since 2012 for the calculation of the benefit.

As a consequence of this, the average gross amount of the contributory unemployment benefit increased by 7.4% in May, up to 954.7 euros per month.

The average monthly expense per beneficiary, without including the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, amounted to 1,064.2 euros in the month of May, which is 90.7 euros more than in the same month of 2022 (9.3%).

The total number of beneficiaries of unemployment benefits stood at 1,668,948 people at the end of the fifth month of the year, 0.4% less than in May 2022, reaching the coverage rate of 64.93%, compared to 60, 65% from a year before.

The benefit data is always one month behind the unemployment data, so the Ministry has published this Tuesday the unemployment figures for June and the benefit statistics for May.