10.01.2017 - 16:03
There were 62,023 fewer unemployed at the end of 2016 in Catalonia than at the same time in 2015, which represents a 12% annual decline and puts the total number of unemployed at 453,645. The figure registered for 2016 is situated in numbers not seen since 2008, according to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. The number of contracts registered in December stood at 224,851 units, which represents a 4.27% increase in comparison to December 2015. However, 88% of these contracts were temporary while only 12% where permanent. Unemployment also fellin the whole of Spain, although the decline was slightly smaller than that registered in Catalonia, 9% in comparison to December 2015. Thus, the number of unemployed at the end of 2016 totalled 3,702,974 people in Spain, 390,534 less than at the same time in 2015.
The sector which registered the biggest decline in the number of unemployed was fishing and agriculture, which fell by 7.6% and totalled 14,075 people. During December, there were 65,898 unemployed in the services sector, 2.5% less in comparison to November. Those who didn’t have a job before decreased by 5.43%, totalling 18,026 people at the end of 2016.
On the other hand, unemployment grew by 2.2% in the construction sector, totalling 8,365 people while industry saw a 0.8% decline and posted unemployment of 2,785 people.
In the whole of Spain, registered unemployment decreased in 13 Autonomous Communities, led by Andalusia (39,908 fewer unemployed), Madrid (11,298) and Catalonia (9,334).
More temporary contracts
During December, 224,851 new contracts were registered in Catalonia, 9,204 more than in the same month in 2015, which represents a 4.27% increase. From these new units, only 26,313 were permanent while most of them, 198,538, were temporary. Thus, 88% of new contracts were short-term while only 11.7% were permanent.
The number of contracts in the whole of Spain set a historic record and reached 1,699,018 units, 6.5% more than in December 2015. Similar to what happened in Catalonia, most of them where temporary. In particular, 1,576,724 were short-term, representing 92% of the total, while only 7% where permanent.
Social Security affiliation grows
The number of members of the Social Security system in Catalonia stood at 3,189,437 people in December, representing an increase of 4,689 members in relation to November and of 119,185 people compared to the end of 2015.
In the whole of Spain, Social Security affiliation reached 17,849,437 people at the end of 2016, which represents a 3.12% rise and 540,655 new members registered in comparison to the same time in 2015. In December alone, 68,531 people were added to the Social Security system.
