Unemployment falls by 48,755 people, 1.67%, the largest percentage drop in March since 2002

2023.4.4

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The number of people registered in the State Public Employment Service Offices (SEPE) at the end of March fell by 48,755 people (-1.67%) compared to the previous month. This relative decline is the largest in the last two decades.

This is a particularly positive development in an international economic and financial context of uncertainty, especially in the financial sphere. Registered unemployment stood at 2,862,260, the lowest figure for a month of March since 2008.

Unemployment fell by 246,503 people (-7.93%) compared to March 2022.

In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment fell by 38,737 people.

Unemployment by sector

By economic sector with respect to February, registered unemployment fell in four sectors: in the Services sector by 42,789 people (-2.05%), in Construction by 3,898 (-1.76%), in Industry by 3,419 people (-1.47%) and in Agriculture by 2,648 people (-2.28%).

The group Without Previous Employment saw a rise of 3,999 people (1.55%).

Unemployment by sex and age

Compared to February, female unemployment decreased by 25,897 women (-1.48%) to a total of 1,718,323, the lowest figure in the last 15 years.

Over the last two years, female registered unemployment has fallen by 559,776 women.

Male unemployment fell by 22,858 men (-1.96%) to a total of 1,143,937 and female unemployment at 1,718,323 fell by 25,897 (-1.48%) compared to February.

Unemployment of young people under 25 fell in December by 267 people (-0.12%) compared with the previous month. This is the first time in the last nine years that unemployment among young people has fallen in March.

The total number of unemployed young people stood at 215,099, the lowest for a March in the entire historical series.

Unemployment by autonomous community

Registered unemployment fell in all autonomous communities except in the Community of Madrid, where it rose by 1,013 people.

Contracts signed

The total number of contracts registered in March was 1,315,095. Of these, 615,674 contracts were permanent, representing 46.82% of all contracts.

It is therefore clear that the change in the hiring model is taking place one year after the application of the labour reform following the vacatio legis established in Royal Decree-Law 32/2021.

Unemployment benefits

There were 1,863,952 existing beneficiaries at the end of the month.

The coverage of the unemployment protection system in February 2023 was 68.11%.

In February 2023, the average monthly expenditure per beneficiary - excluding the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura - was 1,070.7 euros.

The total amount of benefits amounted to 1.95 billion euros in February.

Non official translation