One out of every two contracts signed in April is permanent, in a month in which unemployment fell by 86,260 people

The number of unemployed people registered in the offices of the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) decreased by 86,260 at the end of April compared to the month before. In relative terms, unemployment fell by 2.77%.

In year-on-year terms, unemployment has fallen by 888,125 people (22.71%) compared to April 2021.

Registered unemployment stood at 3,022,503, the lowest figure for a month of April since 2008.

Permanent contracts soar

During April, 1,450,093 contracts were signed, of which 698,646 were permanent. This represents 48.2%, i.e. almost one out of every two contracts signed in April is permanent.

In December 2021, prior to the Labour Reform, permanent contracts accounted for 10% of the total. They rose to 15% in January, in February to 22%, in March to 31% and in April to over 48%.

This represents an increase of 534,566 (325.80%) over the same period in the year before.

In addition, contracting improved in quality, with 534,566 more permanent contracts and 441,318 fewer temporary contracts signed compared to April 2021.

Forty-four per cent of the contracts signed by under-25s are also permanent.

In cumulative terms, 1,767,836 permanent contracts were signed in the first four months of the year. This is an increase of 1,139,943 (181.55%) over the same period in 2021.

In cumulative terms, full-time permanent contracts between January and April this year total 865,250, 116.11% more than in the same period of 2021.

Permanent contracts grew sharply in all sectors, particularly in agriculture and construction.

In agriculture, the rate of permanent contracts has risen from 3% in December 2021 to 50% in April. Construction had 23% permanent contracts in December compared to 74% in April.

Unemployment by economic sector

By economic sector, with respect to March, registered unemployment fell in Services by 65,422 people (-2.98%), Agriculture by 9,544 people (-6.10%), Construction by 6,972 people (-2.80%) and Industry by 4,340 people (-1.71%).

The Without Previous Employment group remained stable with a minor change of only 18 people (0.01%).

Unemployment by sex and age

Female unemployment fell by 43,043 (-2.35%) compared to March, to 1,788,385 women. Male unemployment fell by 43,217 (-3.38%) to 1,234,118 registered unemployed.

Compared with April 2021, female unemployment fell by 474,740 women (-20.98%) and male unemployment fell by 413,385 (-25.09%).

Unemployment of young people under 25 fell in April by 10,952 people (-4.70%) compared with the previous month.

Unemployment according to Autonomous Community

Unemployment registered in April 2022 fell in all autonomous communities, particularly in Andalusia (-33,072 people), the Community of Madrid (-10,931 people) and the Balearic Islands (-7,575 people).

Unemployment benefits in March

The total number of existing beneficiaries at the end of March was 1,758,590. Total spending on benefits in this month stood at 1,848.1 million euros.

In March 2022, the average monthly expenditure per beneficiary - excluding the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura - was 1,078 euros.

Spending on ERTEs amounted to 72 million euros in March.

Non official translation