In total there were 595,342 people registered as unemployed at the end of May in Catalonia. This 1% reduction in relation to the previous month is not good news compared to May 2010, when there were 20,000 fewer people in dole queues. Unemployment decreased throughout Catalonia and in all sectors. In Spain as a whole, there were 4,189,659 people registered as unemployed.
April numbers have broken a three-month continuous trend of unemployment increases. In total there were 601,541 people registered as unemployed at the end of April.
The Catalan Ministry of Economy and Knowledge has released its macroeconomic outlook for 2011. At the end of the current year, the unemployment rate will be 18%, up from 2010.
Kenneth Rogoff, currently professor at Harvard, predicts that Spain has a “high chance” of being rescued by the European Union. He also ads that, if it were not rescued, even France could fall.
They also asked for an improvement in vocational training and development of the Catalan economy’s internationalisation. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, met today at the ESADE Business School with 200 of the most important business people in Catalonia. Among others, the presidents and main directors of Abertis, La Caixa, Banc Sabadell, Seat or even FC Barcelona were present and Mas asked them to take the lead in the economic recovery.
Unemployment registers in Catalonia increased by 8,658 people in March. One in four jobseekers does not receive any public assistance. In addition, training courses for jobseekers have run out of funding and are waiting for the new budget to be approved by the Catalan Government.
FDI in Catalonia surpassed the 3.9 billion euros mark in 2010. It represents 34% of FDI in Spain and was almost three times higher than 2009 levels. The Catalan Government is currently negotiating 189 projects that could bring in up to 6.5 billion euros to the Catalan economy.
The Bank of Spain today released the debt of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Catalan public debt represents 16.2% of Catalonia’s GDP and increased 36.7% in one year. The new Catalan Government stressed its austerity and stability plan, which will cut public expenditure by 10%.
The Spanish Government will invest 25.4 billion euros up until 2020 in this strategic railway infrastructure for goods transportation that will link Spain’s Mediterranean seaports with Central and Northern Europe. The European Commission has to decide in the next 3 months whether the transport axis is a European priority.
The Director of ESADE’s Master in Finance, Jordi Fabregat, recommends that Catalan savings banks speed up its transformation into private banks in order.
602,611 people were unemployed at the end of February in Catalonia, which is 2.2% more than at the end of January.
Spain saw 2010 end with 9.24% of public deficit; 4.97% corresponds to the Spanish Government, 3.39% to the autonomous communities and 0.64% to the local administrations. According to the Spanish Government, half of the autonomous communities saw the year come to an end far away from the objective of 2.4% - Catalonia included. The Catalan Government emphasised that the Spanish Government cut down the revenues of the autonomous communities.
According to the new German Chamber of Commerce Managing Director in Spain, the Central European country could promise young Catalans not only training and competitive salaries but also job stability. He also explains which are the obstacles in his view that stop German investments in Spain and Catalonia.
The figure represents approximately 40% of the Catalan Government’s deficit in 2010. Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce maintains a growth forecast of 0.8% for the Catalan economy in 2011.
The industry sector consolidates its position as the main engine towards the recovery from the economic crisis. Despite this positive data, the 2010 GDP falls by 0.2% in comparison to 2009.