Two exceptional data in October confirm that the labor market continues to catch its breath in full economic recovery. The number of affiliated with Social Security has broken historical highs, with 19,690,590 contributors, and the unemployment figure has fallen for the first time since 1975 in the tenth month of the year, with 734 fewer unemployed.
The number of contributors in October remains at 309,410 out of the 20 million but has exceeded two milestones: the figure for July 2019, when the average membership stood at 19,533,211 employees, a historical record so far.
In monthly variation, the data updated this Wednesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations improves by 0.82% that of September and adds up to six months with increases of over 3% . If the annual evolution is taken into account, at the end of the month there were 700,226 more average contributors than in October 2020 (+ 3.69%).
In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of Social Security affiliates stood at 19,662,163 people in October, exceeding the number of employed persons in February 2020 by 182,349 people, before the global health crisis broke out.
The General Regime, the largest in the system, gained 156,267 average affiliates in October (+ 0.9%), up to a total of 16,302,669 employed persons. It was education that led the increase in employment at the beginning of the school and academic year , with 134,172 new contributors compared to September (+ 15.3%). After education, the Public Administration stands out, with 18,341 new affiliates in October (+ 1.6%), and artistic activities, which added 18,048 contributors in the month (+ 7.5%).
On the other hand, the drop in affiliation in health activities stands out, with 36,252 fewer affiliates (-2%), as well as the decline in contributors to the hospitality industry (-26,237 employed, -2%).
The Self-Employed Regime also gained employment in October, with an average increase of 4,453 affiliates (+ 0.1%), which brought the total number of self-employed contributors to 3,324,329.
By territory, in the last twelve months all the communities and the autonomous city of Ceuta have incorporated occupied. The increase in affiliates to Social Security in the Balearic Islands (+ 16.68%) stands out. Only the autonomous city of Melilla registers a slight decrease (-0.41%).
734 fewer unemployed who make history
Regarding unemployment, the slight fall of 0.02% over that registered in September makes history in a month that is regularly bad for employment and has already accumulated eight consecutive months of decline (this period of chain falls is also “unprecedented”, remarked from the Ministry of Labor).
At the end of the month, the number of unemployed registered in the old Inem amounted to 3,257,068 people . Since October 2020 (month in which it increased by 49,558 people), unemployment has fallen by 568,975 people (-14.87%); has already accumulated three months with falls in rates above 10%, something that had not happened since 2017. Despite the good data, the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has stressed that there are still more than three million unemployed people: “The Government of Spain is not satisfied. […] We are going to improve, not just the figures, but the lives of the people,” he declared in the corridors of the Congress of Deputies.
Javier Blasco, director of the Adecco Group Institute, emphasizes that although the figures are positive both in the monthly variable and in the annual comparison, “the drop in unemployment is ten times less than that of the previous month”.
In seasonally adjusted data, registered unemployment fell by 80,065 people in October.
By economic sectors, unemployment increased in Agriculture , by 7,577 people (+ 5.10%) and decreased in Industry (-847 unemployed or -0.32%), in Construction (-4,523 or -1.74%) and in Services (-4,683 or -0.20%). The group Without Previous Employment increased by 1,742 people (+ 0.63%).
Of the total unemployed, 1,328,489 are men after increasing by 2,926 (0.22%) in relation to September and 1,928,579 women, after decreasing unemployment for this gender by 3,660 people (-0.19%). In the annual comparison, both fell: male unemployment in 294,269 (-18.13%) and female in 274,706 (-12.47%).
Those under 25 years of age are still under punishment
By age, the October data is not so good for unemployment of young people under 25 years of age, which has registered an increase of 5,867 people (2.34%) compared to the previous month; Unemployment aged 25 and over has indeed fallen, by 6,601 (-0.22%).
On the map, unemployment has fallen in eight Autonomous Communities, especially in Madrid (-9,852), the Canary Islands (-5,242), Castilla León (-2,774) and the Valencian Community (-2,542). On the contrary, the number of unemployed has increased in the other nine, with the largest increases in Andalusia (8,600), the Balearic Islands (2,653) and Castilla La Mancha (2,611).
At a data assessment press conference, both the Secretary of State for Employment and Social Economy, Joaquín Pérez Rey, and the Secretary of Social Security and Pensions, Israel Arroyo, have been “surprised” and “optimistic” about the recovery of employment after the pandemic.
For Begoña Casas, professor of Economics and Business at the European University, the October data indicates that “the health of the labor market has not been affected by the change of season and the good data for summer are also maintained in autumn, boosted in good measure for the stability of the covid cases “.
190,718 people in Erte
Workers who are on suspension of employment or reduced hours as a result of a temporary employment regulation file (Erte), are not counted as unemployed. At the end of October, there were 190,718 people under this tool, the lowest level in a pandemic. On average in October, 198,041 workers were registered in Erte, 21.65% less than the previous month.
As indicated by the Ministry of José Luis Escrivá, with respect to the last day of September, there has been a decrease of 48,512 people according to the notification date and of 43,329 if the discharge date is taken into account.
Spending on benefits derived from workers at Erte reached 228 million euros in September (latest data available), compared to 256 million in August and 3,426 million euros from the maximum reached in May 2020, according to Labor data.
Permanent contracts go up 30%
In October, 1,892,584 contracts were registered, 22% more than in the same month of 2020, of which 198,496 were permanent, 10.49%. It represents an increase of 30.3% over October 2020. From January to October, more than 15.6 million contracts were registered in Spain , 19.3% more than in the same period in 2020, of which 1, 65 million have been indefinite, 26.9% more.
Within the indefinite contracts of October, full-time contracts totaled 113,447, 33.1% more than in the same month of 2020, while permanent part-time contracts totaled 85,049, with an annual advance of 26.8% .
Of the rest of the contracts signed in October, more than 1.68 million were temporary contracts , of which 26.8% were temporary due to full-time production circumstances and 24.8% were for works or services, also to full time. On the other hand, temporary contracts with part-time hours account for 33% of the total.
