The labour reform closes its first year of application with 20.5 million employed, a sharp reduction in temporary employment and a fall in unemployment

2023.1.26

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Employment increased in 2022 by more than 278,900 people, or 1.38%, to 20,463,900 employed people, the highest level in the fourth quarter since 2007. In line with the slowdown in the global economy, job creation slowed down in the fourth quarter, with a decline of 81,900 people (-0.40%) and a stabilisation in seasonally adjusted terms.

Unemployment also fell by 79,900 people in the last year (-2.57%), although it increased by 43,800 people in the fourth quarter (+1.47%). To this effect, the total number of unemployed people at the end of the year stood at 3,024,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 12.9%.

In its first year of application, the labour reform achieved a sharp reduction of more than 7 points in the temporary employment rate, to a historic low of 17.93%, bringing Spain closer to the European average. In addition, the number of workers with permanent contracts increased by almost 1.6 million to a peak of 14.3 million employees with permanent contracts.

In parallel, the labour force continued to increase markedly, with a growth of almost 200,000 people in the last year to a near record high of 23.48 million, reflecting workers' confidence in finding a job despite the difficult external environment.

These data show that the Spanish economy continued to create jobs and reduce unemployment in a year marked by an international environment of high uncertainty stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine.

Employment

Employment increased by more than 278,900 in the last year (+1.38%) to 20,463,900 people, close to record highs. In the last quarter, employment fell by 81,900 people (-0.40%). In seasonally adjusted terms, it virtually stabilised" (at -0.01%).

Employment grew in all sectors over the past year except agriculture, which recorded a decline of 86,900. The sector in which employment increased the most was Services, with 314,300 more workers, followed by Industry, with 36,600 and Construction, with 14,900.

In terms of the Autonomous Regions, employment increased in most of them. The largest increases occurred in the Valencian Community, with 102,700 more employed people, followed by the Canary Islands (52,800) and the Balearic Islands (33,800), while the number of employed workers fell in Asturias (-15,100), the Basque Country (-7,700) and Aragon (5,000).

In the fourth quarter, the largest increases in employment were in the Canary Islands (43,100), Valencia (27,300) and Madrid (26,400), while the largest decreases were in the Balearic Islands (83,300), Catalonia (40,900) and Andalusia (19,400).

Thanks to the labour reform last year, permanent employment increased by 1,591,100 people, while temporary employment decreased by 1,193,800. In the fourth quarter, this trend continued, with a rise of 366,100 permanent employees, compared with a fall of 397,800 temporary employees. To this effect, the temporary employment rate fell by more than 7 points over the year to a record low of 17.93%.

The private sector accounted for most of the employment created over the past year, with 228,200 jobs created, meaning a total of almost 17 million private jobs, compared to 50,700 in the public sector, which stands at just over 3.5 million jobs. In the last quarter of the year, employment in the private sector fell by 101,900 people and in the public sector it increased by 20,000.

Full-time employment also continued to rise, with an increase of 235,200 people in the last year, well above part-time employment, which grew by 43,700 to 13.59%. In the fourth quarter, full-time employment fell by 241,500 people and part-time employment rose by 159,600.

By gender, female employment has increased by 132,100 people over the last year, continuing to grow significantly in the fourth quarter, with 55,500 more women in employment. Male employment in year-on-year terms also rose, by 146,800 workers, but in the last quarter male employment fell by 137,400 workers.

Unemployment

Spain closed the year 2022 with a reduction in unemployment of 79,900 people (-2.57%), reducing the total number of unemployed to around three million (3,024,000), meaning that the unemployment rate fell to 12.9%, with reductions in Agriculture, with 15,500 fewer unemployed, practically no variation in Construction (800 more) and increases in Services (101,100 more) and in Industry (7,100).

During the fourth quarter of 2022, unemployment increased by 43,800 people. By sector, it increased in the Services sector by 39,700 people, in Construction, with 13,600 more unemployed, and in Industry, with 3,100 more, while it decreased in Agriculture, with 13,700 less unemployed.

By Autonomous Region, the largest decreases in annual terms occurred in Andalusia, with 56,800 fewer unemployed, the Canary Islands, with 50,100 fewer, and the Balearic Islands, with 24,100 fewer, compared with the largest increases recorded in the Community of Madrid, with 57,700 more unemployed, Asturias, with 20,000 more unemployed, and Castile-La Mancha, with 13,000 more.

These figures were recorded after a last quarter in which the largest decreases occurred in the Canary Islands, with 35,200 fewer unemployed, Murcia, with 11,700 fewer unemployed, and Galicia, with 3,500 fewer, compared with the largest increases in the Balearic Islands, with 29,700 more unemployed, Catalonia, with 21,900 more unemployed, and the Community of Madrid, which added 10,600 unemployed.

The number of unemployed women and men fell in 2022 by 32,600 and 47,200, respectively, bringing the female unemployment rate down to 14.61% and the male rate to 11.32%. The number of unemployed women fell by 20,400 in the fourth quarter to 1,623,000 and the number of unemployed men rose by 64,200 to 1,401,000.

Non official translation