Recorded unemployment rises by 76,216 in January 2021 in Spain
Recorded unemployment by the State Public Employment Service (Spanish acronym: SEPE) rose by 76,216 people at the end of January on the previous month. However, the seasonally-adjusted figure fell by 17,544 people.
Since records began, the number of people registered as out of work has always risen at the start of the year. In January 2021, despite coinciding with a delicate point in the health crisis, which has made restrictive measures on economic activity an imperative, the rise in unemployment is 15.5% down on January 2020. The rise in the number of people recorded as out of work has only been lower on three occasions since 2008.
The total number of people recorded as unemployed now stands at 3,964,353.
Unemployment by sector
By economic sector, recorded unemployment fell among first-time job-seekers by 5,397 people (down 1.53%) and also in construction, by 871 people (down 0.27%).
Recorded unemployment rose in the services sector by 78,089 people (up 2.87%), in agriculture by 3,272 (up 1.8%) and in industry by 1,123 (up 0.36%).
Unemployment by gender and age
Among women, unemployment rose by 48,254 (up 2.17%) to a total of 2,273,375 on the figure for December.
Unemployment rose less among men by 27,962 (up 1.68%), to a total of 1,690,978 people.
Unemployment among young people under the age of 25 fell in January by 5,874 people (down 1.62%) on the previous month.
Unemployment by region
Recorded unemployment fell in the autonomous regions of Galicia (down 3,603 people) and in the Balearic Islands (down 998 people).
In contrast, it rose in the remaining regions, headed up by Andalusia (up 18,249), Catalonia (up 10,470) and the Region of Valencia (up 10,094).
Unemployment benefits in December
The total number of unemployment beneficiaries of the State Public Employment Service at the end of December stood at 2,299,575 people.
Total spending on benefits in December 2020 amounted to 2.47 billion euros, of which 768 million euros corresponded to benefits under a Temporary Lay-off Plan (Spanish acronym: ERTE).
The average monthly cost per beneficiary in December 2020, without including the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, was 1,100.80€, a rise on the same month of the previous year of 199.40€ (up 22.1%).
About contracts
1,302,429 employment contracts were signed in January in total. Of these, 124,191 were permanent employment contracts, accounting for 9.54% of all contracts.
In terms of the working day, these permanent employment contracts signed in January were divided into 82,793 full-time contracts and 41,398 part-time contracts.
The rest of the employment contracts, to complete the total figure signed in January of 1,302,429, include 8,100 training contracts and 1,170,138 other types of temporary contracts.
This latter group includes Specific Works or Service Contracts (from day to full-time contracts), accounting for 31.04%, followed by Temporary Contracts due to Production Circumstances (from one day to full-time contracts), accounting for 28.93% of all contracts, Part-time temporary employment contracts make up the remaining 24.38%.
