Unemployment rises slightly by 2,618 in February, well below average for this month

The number of people registered with the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) at the end of February increased by 2,618 people, just 0.1% in percentage terms, reflecting a trend of stability in the labour market. This increase is well below the average for the past 15 years when the average increase in unemployment was over 35,000 people.

In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment fell by 6,345 people.

Compared to February 2022, unemployment fell by 200,669 people (-6.45%).

A total of 2,911,015 people are currently unemployed, which is the lowest number since 2008.

Unemployment by sex and age

Currently, 1,744,220 women are unemployed after increasing by 4,135 (0.24%) compared to January.

The number of unemployed men is 1,166,795, with a decrease of 1,517 men (-0.13%).

Youth unemployment affecting the under 25s rose in January by 11,862 people (5.83%) compared with the previous month. The total number of young people in this age group registered as unemployed is 215,366, which is the lowest number for the month of February in the historical series.

Unemployment by economic sector

Registered unemployment fell in Services by 3,868 persons (-0.19%), in Industry by 2,399 persons (-1.02%) and in Construction by 2,392 persons (-1.07%).

This increased in Agriculture by 1,138 persons (0.99%) and, above all, in the group Without Previous Employment, by 10,139 people (4.10%).

Contracts

The total number of contracts recorded for the month of February was 1,084,802, of which 493,200 were permanent contracts, representing 45.46% of all contracts. This represents an increase of 176,359 (55.66%) over the same period the year before.

Unemployment by autonomous community

Registered unemployment fell in nine autonomous communities, especially in the Valencian Community (-1,632 people), Castile and León (-1,542 people) and Castile-La Mancha (-1,267 people).

Registered unemployment increased in eight autonomous communities, especially in Madrid (5,040 people), the Canary Islands (2,726 people), Murcia (1,583 people) and Andalusia (1,530 people).

Benefits in January

The benefits paid in January already incorporate the increase in the calculation to 60% of the regulatory base from the 181^st day of the benefit, reversing the 50% cut that had been applied since 2012.

This increase represents an increase of 8.14% in the average benefit (73 euros), from an average of 893 euros in 2022 to 965.7 euros in January this year, which makes it possible to offset the loss of purchasing power.

The coverage rate rose to 69.3%, its highest level since 2012.

The number of beneficiaries at the end of the month was 1,901,340, an increase of 2.0% compared to the same month last year.

Total benefit spending in January 2023 rose to €1.99 billion.

The average monthly spending per beneficiary, not including the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, was €1,071.10 in January 2023, which represents an increase of €23.2 (2.2%) compared to the same month in the previous year.

Non official translation