ARCHIVED - Second consecutive record monthly fall in Spanish unemployment
4.4 per cent fewer out of work during the month of June alone as the total drops to 3.6 million
At a time when Covid incidence rates are increasing sharply it might seem premature to herald the end of the economic effects of the pandemic in Spain, but as the vaccination campaign increases its momentum the latest unemployment figures which were published by the government on Friday morning report a record fall in the number of people out of work.
The data show that during June the number of people registered as out of work fell by 166,911, the largest decrease in a single month since comparable records were first compiled in 1996. In the course of just 30 days the total fell by 4.41 per cent, and not since last summer has the number of unemployed been lower than the latest figure of 3,614,339 (down by 6.43 per cent in comparison with June 2020).
Although the mood is one of elation at these figures, the figures from the same date in 2019 show that even though these are the best figures since the beginning of the pandemic, that the damage caused by the pandemic is significant: In July 2019 a decrease of 63,805 (or 2.07 per cent) during June left the jobless total at 3,015,686, 4.63 per cent (or 146,000) lower in 2018: and over 2 and a half million fewer than the peak which was reached in February 2013.
So the figure today is actually 598,653 higher than before the Covid pandemic began.
On the other hand, it has to be remembered that another 447,800 people are still on ERTE pandemic furlough schemes, possibly until the end of September, and it is by no means certain that they will not return to the ranks of the unemployed between now and the end of the summer, although even this figure is falling month by month as more and more employees are welcomed back to the workplace, particularly in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
The regional breakdown of the figures shows that the jobless totals fell in all 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain in May, the decrease reaching 16.7 per cent in the Balearics as the tourism sector geared up for the summer.
Over the last 12 months, meanwhile, the figures have fallen by between 10 and 16 per cent in Asturias, the Balearics, Galicia, Navarra and the Basque Country, while the year-on-year comparison still shows slight increases in the regions of the Canaries (4.9 per cent) and Madrid (0.7 per cent).