Pedro Sánchez stresses Spanish economy continues to create jobs following rise in minimum wage

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

At the government control session in the Lower House of Parliament, Pedro Sánchez stated that the Spanish economy is growing and creating jobs at the same time that the government has raised the minimum wage and is reducing the public debt.

In his response to the question posed by Pablo Casado, of the People's Parliamentary group, the President of the Government pointed out that since June 20018, 622,800 jobs have been created and that in the last quarter of 2019, the highest number of people in work was posted since 2008.

Pedro Sánchez stressed that 55% of jobs created in the last year and a half were for women and that "never before have so many women been in work in Spain". He also remarked that 88% of new jobs in this period are under permanent employment contracts. The unemployment rate remains high, he claimed, but in the fourth quarter of 2019, it stood at 13.8%, the lowest level since 2008.

The government has managed to improve these figures while raising the minimum wage to 950 euros and consolidating economic growth, said Pedro Sánchez, who recalled that the Gross Domestic Product of Spain rose by 0.5% in the last quarter of 2019, while European GDP only rose by 0.1% and other important economies such as Germany remained flat. The government, he added, will continue to adopt measures in this field, as it did on Tuesday by repealing dismissals on medical grounds.

In his appearance before the Lower House, the President of the Government also reiterated the government's interest in reaching agreements with the opposition on State affairs, such as the renewal of constitutional bodies over the four years of the current legislature.

Institutions at service of everyone

Pool Moncloa/JM CuadradoPedro Sánchez stressed that the government will always place public institutions at the service of all citizens, without tolerating any form of discrimination, a commitment he expressed in response to a question on this matter posed by Inés Arrimadas, from the Ciudadanos Parliamentary Group.

The President of the Government specified that this means that institutions must act in an exemplary manner, as the men and women of Spain need and demand from those holding public office. Institutions, he remarked, must also guarantee respect for minorities and diversity, and be at the service of women, instead of "trivialising gender-based violence".

"Placing institutions at the service of all Spanish people means enforcing non-discrimination on grounds of sex, race, religion or any other consideration", claimed the President of the Government at the plenary session of the Lower House.

Non official translation