Social Security registers its best May since 2018 by gaining 213,643 affiliates

In seasonally adjusted terms, more than 33,300 employed persons were added in the month and the labor reform raises the percentage of permanent employees to 79%

MADRID, 2 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Social Security gained an average of 213,643 contributors in what has been the best month of May since 2018, thanks to the boost from all economic sectors, especially the hotel industry, which added 83,400 employed in the month, a 6.2 % more than in April, due to the start of the summer campaign.

With this rebound in affiliates, the total number of average employed consolidated 20 million employed, a figure that was already exceeded for the first time in April, closing the month of May with 20,232,723 contributors, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.

The Department headed by José Luis Escrivá has stressed that this good behavior of the labor market has occurred despite the "context of uncertainty".

The increase in May this year, which in relative values ​​was 1.07%, is the highest in this month since 2018, when the system gained more than 237,000 contributors, and slightly exceeds those registered in the months of May 2021 and 2019 (the latter before Covid), in which Social Security added just over 211,000 employed people. In May 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, the rebound in affiliates did not reach 98,000 contributors.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of Social Security contributors followed the line of previous months and rose by 33,366 workers (0.17%) in relation to the month of April, which placed the total employed at 20,025,089 people, exceeding for the first time the 20 million contributors in the seasonally adjusted series.

The Ministry has also highlighted that 185,987 jobs have been created between January and May and almost 540,000 since February 2020, before the start of the pandemic, "thanks to the boost in private employment."

At the same time, he has emphasized the positive impact that the labor reform is having after five months in force (two of full validity), with an increase in the weight of indefinite contracts up to 79%, eight points above the average for the Month of May.

In the last year, Social Security has gained 965,502 affiliates in average values ​​(5.01%), most of them in the General Scheme (928,232 contributors), followed by the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), with 35,424 new employees.

The monthly gain of average affiliates in May was due to both sexes, although somewhat more to men, who added 115,057 contributors in the month compared to April (1.08%), compared to a rise in employed women of 98,586 contributors (1 .04%).

In this way, the number of employed women not only remained above the 9 million barrier for the twelfth consecutive month, but also reached a new all-time high, with a total of 9,509,308 affiliates. Male employment also set a record figure, reaching 10,723,415 contributors.

The average affiliation of foreigners, for its part, rose by 72,111 contributors in May, 3% compared to the previous month, to also reach record highs, with a total of 2,426,625 employed persons. In this way, one of every three new affiliates in May was foreign.

By schemes, the General, the most numerous in the system, gained 201,364 average affiliates in May (1.2%), up to a total of 16,824,482 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) added 10,726 affiliates (0.3 %), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,343,362.

Within the General Regime, the rebound in affiliation was generalized. The hotel industry led the increase in employment, with 83,427 more contributors compared to April (6.2%), followed by administrative activities (20,746 affiliates, 1.5%); construction (13,552 contributors, 1.5%), and commerce (11,993 contributors, 0.5%).

For its part, the Special Agrarian System gained 19,660 jobs in the fifth month of the year (2.7%) and the Home System registered 172 casualties (-0.05%).

By autonomous communities, the growth of monthly affiliation in the Balearic Islands stood out, with an increase in the average number of employed persons of 48,565 employed persons (9.4%).

In short, the Ministry underlines that the growth in enrollment compared to the level prior to the pandemic is generalized by sectors and most of them are at employment levels higher than those registered in February 2020, due to the increase in employment in the private sector.

In addition, this rebound in enrollment has been "particularly intense" in innovative and value-added sectors, including information and communications (14.5%), health activities (8.4%), and scientific-technical activities (7 .6%).

Likewise, Social Security points out that, geographically, the recovery of the level of affiliation prior to the pandemic is also generalized, since all the autonomous communities currently have more affiliates than in February 2020.

Regarding the impact of the labor reform on employment, in May the increase in affiliates with indefinite contracts accelerated, with a year-on-year growth rate of 16% (in April it was slightly above 10%).

Compared to the usual trend of a month of May prior to the pandemic, this year there are one million more permanent affiliates.

In this way, 79% of the affiliates in the month of May had indefinite contracts, eight points more than usual before the pandemic. Of this percentage, 5% were members with fixed-discontinuous contracts.

The Ministry highlights that even in the sectors with more temporary contracts, there has been a "notable" increase in permanent contracts, as in the case of construction, hospitality and administrative activities.

At the same time, the Department headed by José Luis Escrivá has highlighted that the effects of the labor reform are being "especially positive" among young people, a group that usually has high rates of temporary employment.

Thus, the percentage of people under 30 years of age with an indefinite contract stood at 60% in May, more than 20 points above the average for the months of May in the 2015-2021 period (39%). Of that 60% of permanent contracts, 9% have fixed-discontinuous contracts.

On the other hand, the Ministry has reported that workers in ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons (ETOP) have stabilized at around 22,454.

In total, at the end of May there were 27,380 workers in ERTE, of which 22,454 were in an ERTE-ETOP; 1,215 in an ERTE due to force majeure, and 3,711 in the sectoral ERTE for travel agencies.