ARCHIVED - Unemployment up by almost 8 per cent in Murcia during the first quarter of 2021
The increase coincided with the third wave of coronavirus contagion in the Region
The Active Population Survey published by the Spanish government this week for the first quarter of 2021 shows that the number of people out of work in the Region of Murcia rose by 7.7 per cent between January and March, no doubt due at least in part to the effects of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic following the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The rise of 8,700 people took the jobless total in Murcia up to 120,400, an increase of only 1 per cent in comparison with the figure 12 months previously (shortly after the lockdown of the first wave of Covid infection in Spain).
At the same time, the unemployment rate in the Region of Murcia is calculated at 16.4 per cent, marginally above the national average of 15.98 per cent, while during the quarter the number of people in employment has also risen over the last year, by 1.3 per cent to 612,900.
In Spain as a whole the first quarter saw a decrease of 1.77 per cent in the number of people out of work, with the total dropping slightly to 3,653,900.
It should be pointed out that the figures contained in the quarterly EPA are almost always higher than those which are reported on a monthly basis, although on this occasion the difference in Murcia is minimal. This is because the monthly data include only those who are registered as being out of work at their local employment offices, whilst the EPA also takes into account those who are unemployed but, for one reason or another, have chosen not to register as such.
However, in the Region of Murcia the general rule is broken on this occasion, as the monthly data gave a figure of 121,473!