Unemployment increased by 26,950 people in Catalonia, 4.79% more than in December

The total number of unemployed people in Catalonia is now 589,623. In Spain as a whole, registered unemployment increased by 130,930 people this January. The total number of unemployed people sets a new historical record, with 4.23 million. Traditionally, January is a bad month in terms of unemployment data due to the end of Christmas sales’ hirings.

CNA / Paula Mateu

February 2, 2011 11:24 PM

Madrid (ACN) .- Unemployment figures were negative again in January 2011. According to the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Immigration, the registered unemployment rate in Catalonia in January increased by 26,950 people, representing 4.79% more than in December. Now, the number of unemployed people in Catalonia is 589,623. The rate in the same month in 2010 is also negative but more moderate. January last year ended with a 0.98% less unemployed. In Spain as a whole, the registered unemployment number increased by 130,930 people, representing a difference of 3.19% each month. Today the number of unemployed people in Spain is 4.23 million, 4.51% more than a year ago. Traditionally, January is a bad month in terms of unemployment data and this year was no exception according to data made public this Wednesday by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration.


With almost 19,400 more people unemployed, Barcelona is the province in Catalonia that has witnessed the most significant increase in unemployment. This represents a 4.65% increase in December and 0.3% more than in January of last year. The most negative monthly and annual variations were registered in Lleida’s territory where there were 7.45% more unemployed in the same month than the previous year and 5.98% more than in December. Meanwhile, Tarragona counties saw 3,600 more people unemployed, a 5.68% increase in December - a 3.24% increase in January 2010. In the case of Girona, the monthly increase was 4.22% and the annual was 0.54%. therein Girona province there is a total of  57,338 unemployed people.

With regard to the whole of Spain, unemployment has only declined in the Balearic Islands. Catalonia and Andalusia are on the other side of the coin where the number of unemployed people has raised a lot. 

Services sector show bad results

If in December the services sector recorded the most positive performance, in January it was the worst. In Catalonia, this sector saw 19,629 more unemployed people in just one month. Most of them (up to 14,493) refer to the Barcelona province. Other sectors also witnessed negative behaviour during the month of January. In the construction and the industry sector, and there were 3,305 and 2,135 more people unemployed respectively. Meanwhile, agriculture generated 215 unemployed in one month.

Without a doubt, the services sector leads the total number of unemployed in Catalonia, with over 350,000 people. In the construction sector there are 100,000 unemployed, while in industry there are nearly 98,000. Agriculture records 10,000 unemployed.

In Spain, it was also the services sector that saw the most negative behaviour. During the month of January, this industry brought about more than 105,000 unemployed across Spain (4.43% more). The industry sector follows it with almost 8,300 more jobseekers (+1.68%). Meanwhile, construction and agriculture generated respectively 5,275 and 2,290 more unemployed people in one month (0.7% and 1.81% more, respectively).

Sex, age and origin

With regard to gender, the increase in unemployment in Catalonia among both men and women is almost equal. In Spain as a whole, male unemployment increased by 2.54% in one month and 2.19% in one year. Meanwhile for women, the rate increased by about 3.85% from December and 6.91% for the same month in 2010. The female unemployment rate remains above the male as there are nearly 2.16 million unemployed women and 2.1 million unemployed men.

People under 25 represent 8.55% of the total number of unemployed people in Catalonia.

The evolution of unemployment among immigrant people has not been different. This group lost nearly 4,500 jobs in Catalonia representing a monthly variation of 3.41%. Compared to the same month in 2010, unemployment among immigrants increased by 5.93%. Of the 135,771 immigrants who are unemployed in Catalonia, 108,557 are from outside the European Union, while 27,214 of the unemployed are from a EU Member State. In Spain, the monthly change in unemployment of immigrant people was 2.22% and the annual variation was 5.96%. In total there are 619,276 unemployed immigrants in Spain and 418,787 of these were from non EU countries.

Hiring

In January, almost 160,000 job contracts were signed in Catalonia, 7,000 fewer than in December (a 4.22% less). The annual variation, however, is positive, since the number of contracts signed in January increased by 12.16% compared to the same month a year ago. Most of these contracts (138,212) are temporary while only 21,570 were permanent.

With regard to the whole of Spain, over 1.1 million job contracts were signed in January. Of these, over 1 million were temporary and 102,800 were permanent. The monthly variation is negative, because in December, nearly 73,800 more contracts were signed (6.2% more). However the annual change is positive as in January 2010, nearly 65,800 contracts were signed, 6.26% less than this year’s January.