The long-term unemployed represent 30% of the unemployed, according to Adecco

MADRID, 26 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The long-term unemployed represent 30% of the total unemployed in the country, with a total of 954,400 people without a job for at least two years, 16,600 more than a year ago, according to data from the Adecco Monitor of Opportunities and Satisfaction in Employment, published this Monday.

The number of long-term unemployed grew for the fifth consecutive quarter and represents the highest proportion since 2019. However, the total number of unemployed fell by 624,400 compared to the previous year, to 2.92 million people.

The director of the Adecco Group Institute, Javier Blasco, explains that long-term unemployment corresponds to "groups of all ages and with little qualification", which makes it difficult for them to enter the labor market, and also to "prejudices on the potential of the senior candidate" or "territories with low unemployment rates where there are pockets of structural unemployment".

"Our labor market needs to respond to challenges such as the extension of working life and the necessary active ageing, the need for constant retraining to achieve better levels of training, productivity and remuneration than the current ones," says Blasco.

The proportion of long-term unemployed grew in all the autonomous communities, although in ten of them it was accompanied by a decline in short-term unemployment.

While a year ago Andalusia was the community with the highest proportion of long-term unemployed, 28.4%, this 2022 there are eight autonomies that exceed 30%, including Asturias (37.7%; 13.1 percentage points) and Canarias (32.9%; 6.2 percentage points).

On the contrary, the Balearic Islands continue to be the community with the lowest proportion of long-term unemployed, now with 19.5%, despite the fact that this figure registers an increase of 5.8 percentage points.

In Spain as a whole, 66.2% of the unemployed are receiving an unemployment benefit, one percentage point higher than a year earlier, they point out from Adecco.

The occupational accident rate for the second quarter of 2022 shows a year-on-year increase of 11.6%, which raises the accident rate to 66.6 accidents that caused sick leave per 10,000 employed persons. This is the highest figure since March 2020.

The number of accidents at work has increased in the second quarter by more than 30% year-on-year: Cantabria (41.7%), Balearic Islands (41.1%) and La Rioja (32.5%).

Labor conflict has also increased over the last year, with a national average of 11.8 conflicts per 100,000 companies, 0.6% more than in the second quarter of 2021.

The number of conflicts has increased in 14 autonomies, with La Rioja in the lead, where strikes have multiplied by seven in one year, from only 2.4 to 16.8 per 100,000 signatures. There are also significant increases in the Canary Islands (112%) and Extremadura (77.1%).

The three regions with the highest number of conflicts continue to be the Basque Country (108.3 strikes per 100,000 companies), Navarra (now with 76 conflicts per 100,000 companies) and Asturias (35.2 strikes per 100,000 companies).

However, the participation of workers in strikes has been reduced by 13.1% year-on-year in the second quarter, with 28.7 strikers for every 10,000 employed.

The number of workers participating in the strikes has fallen in nine autonomous communities, such as the Basque Country, Navarra or the Canary Islands, and increased in the remaining eight autonomous communities, including Extremadura, Cantabria and Castilla y León.

Despite the decrease in the number of participants in the Basque Country, this community continues to be the region with the highest participation, with 87.1 strikers, followed by Catalonia, with 57.5 participants in conflicts.

There are only three regions with less than 10 strikers per 10,000 employed persons: Murcia, with 6.7 strikers (-24.1% year-on-year), La Rioja, with 7.7 participants (-15.9%) and Castilla-La Mancha, with 9.1 participants per 10,000 employed persons (-1.8%).

The association of private employment companies Asempleo has also published this Monday its 'Radiography of Unemployment in Spain', where it warns that "long-term unemployment is entrenched again."

The profile of the long-term unemployed corresponds to people over 50 years of age, who are assumed to have family responsibilities, less labor mobility and, possibly, outdated skills.

In addition, Asempleo warns that the current figures are close to those of 2013, "when the Spanish labor market presented the worst figures ever recorded." The figures exposed in the Radiography of him show that in the second quarter of 2022 the number of long-term unemployed reached 1.4 million unemployed, 47.8% of the total number of unemployed.

Along with long-term unemployment, very long-term unemployment is increasing, with almost 400,000 people in this situation, more than 12% of the total number of unemployed.