The Government denies a slowdown in employment: "It has been one of the best Septembers in history"

MADRID, 4 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Secretary of State for Employment, Joaquín Pérez Rey, stated this Tuesday that the rise in unemployment in September by 17,679 people has been "very moderate" and, with the exception of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, places the month of September 2022 as "the best for 14 years".

In the press conference that he offered together with the Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suárez, to assess the data on unemployment and affiliation, both insisted that, despite the current uncertainties, "there are no symptoms at this time of a slowdown in employment growth" and have highlighted the "resilience" of the labor market in the face of adversity.

"The evolution in these months of registered unemployment moves in seasonal patterns that are the usual ones, and even below them. It cannot be attributed to a brake on job creation, but to seasonal movements. In a situation of extreme economic complexity , where the difficulties of the labor market are extreme, the labor market is behaving normally", Pérez Rey pointed out.

Thus, he has argued that the rise in unemployment in September is explained by the seasonality associated with the end of the tourist season and by the registration in the employment offices of students who, after finishing their studies, are looking for their first job.

In addition, he stressed that the increase in unemployment in September "is well below" the average for the 2008-2019 period, in which unemployment rose by some 46,000 people, in a context, moreover, that is characterized by a "complete uncertainty".

"The fact that we are in one of the best months of September in the historical series in this context implies that labor relations, after the labor reform, are much more resilient and better able to withstand adversity. Until recently, the labor market was bulimic, hyper-reactive and speculative, with a very strong capacity to destroy employment at the first sign of economic slowdown, but now the labor market is showing resistance and has lost, to a certain extent, its character of volatility", he emphasized.

The Secretary of State for Employment has also highlighted that the hiring data in September has been "spectacular", with 46.7% of permanent contracts and an "astonishing and abysmal" reduction in the flow of temporary contracts, especially in activities that are usually "hit" by the lack of job stability, such as hospitality, agriculture and construction.

Thus, Pérez Rey has emphasized that the labor reform has brought about a "very substantial" change in the labor market, with contracts of "great quality and great resistance." In this sense, he has pointed out that, since the reform, "much less turnover" is needed to create a new Social Security affiliate.

Specifically, they have gone from needing almost 7.5 indefinite contracts to create a single member of Social Security to 2.6 contracts per member. In the case of permanent full-time contracts, while in 2015 more than 7 contracts were needed to create a single affiliate, after the labor reform only 2.2 are needed.

"To create a member of Social Security we have come to need 245 temporary contracts. This shows that it is the first time that our country has managed to create employment while reducing temporary employment", Pérez Rey pointed out.

The Secretary of State has also assured that the Ministry "does not know for now" that irregularities are taking place both with the fixed-discontinuous contract and with the trial period of the contracts and has reiterated that the Inspection is monitoring compliance with the legislation.

"The trial period is not always passed because the employer does not want to. The workers also make use of withdrawal (...) We do not detect any particular abuse in this area, but rather the logical consequence of the predominance of indefinite contracts", has explained.

The Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suárez, has also underlined that in September "one more month" was observed, not only a shift from temporary to permanent contracts, but also an "acceleration" of this indicator.

"The labor reform is producing very positive results, with a growth of members with indefinite contracts of two million people. It is a truly spectacular result, which highlights the structural transformation of the labor market," Suárez emphasized.

The Secretary of State has pointed out that this change can also be seen taking into account the average duration of the contracts, which has grown by 25%, 51 days more than in 2019. "It is not a change of label from temporary to indefinite. It is that there are greater stability in the workplace", he pointed out.

Suárez has underlined that the affiliate data registered in September (almost 30,000 new employees in average terms) are "frankly good", with a total of average contributors of 20,180,287, "the best data in the historical series" if 2020 is excluded and 2021, abnormal years due to the pandemic.

The Secretary of State for Social Security has also highlighted that workers in ERTE and those protected by the sectorial RED mechanism for travel agencies have been reduced in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, remaining in a "very moderate" figure (some 21,000 workers) despite the uncertain situation. This is also a sign, in his opinion, that the economy is not slowing down.