6,325 fewer unemployed registered in March in Catalonia
Unemployment in Catalonia fell by 10.7% in March in comparison to the same month last year, totaling 446,017 people. According to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security, 6,325 people left the unemployment lists last month, which represents a slight 1.40% decline in comparison to February. However, with this drop, Catalonia has now registered 45 consecutive months of declining unemployment in annual terms. The number of jobless also fell across the whole of Spain. There were 48,559 fewer unemployed at the end of March and the number of people without a job totaled 3,702,317. Moreover, the number of unemployed in comparison to the same month last year fell by 9.58%, the highest decline registered in March since the beginning of the historic series.
Barcelona (CNA).- The number of people registered on the unemployment lists in Catalonia in March stood at 446,017 people, 6,325 fewer than in February, according to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. This March’s figures represent the second consecutive fall in the unemployment rate and in annual terms the number of unemployed has continued to fall since July 2013. In comparison to March last year, there are 53,974 fewer unemployed, which represents a decline of 10.7%. The number of unemployed also fell across the whole of Spain. There were 48,559 fewer unemployed by the end of March in Spain in comparison to last month and the number of people without a job totaled 3,702,317. Moreover, the jobless rate in comparison to the same month last year fell by 9.58%, the highest decline registered in March since the beginning of the historic series.
Decline across almost all sectors
The services sector was the economic sector which contributed the most to the unemployment decline, with 5,553 fewer unemployed in March in comparison to the same month last year. The industry sector registered its fifth consecutive month of declining unemployment with 1,066 fewer people without a job. Finally, unemployment in the construction sector fell by 1695 people. On the other hand, unemployment grew in the agriculture sector with 190 more people registered. However, the highest increase was amongst those who were already unemployed, growing by 799 people.
The trend is similar in the whole of Spain, where unemployment fell mainly in the services sector (-39,933), construction (-8,830) and industry (-5,659). The number of unemployed grew amongst those who didn’t have a job last month (+4,482) and in the agriculture sector (+1,381).
Most new contracts continue to be temporary
262,621 new contracts were signed in March, 18% more than in February. However, 85% of them were temporary whereas only 14% were permanent. In the whole of Spain there were 1,554,345 new contracts registered in March, 89% of which were temporary and only 10.3% were permanent. (Thus, the number of contracts registered in February stood at 222,369 units, the highest figure for the month of February since 2006. From these, 14.8% were permanent while the rest (85.2%) were temporary.
More registered in the Social Security system
Regarding Social Security affiliation, it reached 3,212,076 people in March, which represents 31,118 more than in February and 3.8% more than in the same period last year. In the whole of Spain, the number of people in the Social Security scheme totaled 17,910,007 in March, which represents a slight 0.91% increase in comparison to the previous month but the highest increase in the historic series for this month. Compared to March 2015, the number of Social Security affiliations grew by 604,209 people, the highest growth in annual terms since 2007.