Permanent contracts decreased by 17.3% in the last year and accounted for 38.5% of the total, while temporary contracting decreased by 13.8%

MADRID, 4 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The number of unemployed registered in the offices of the public employment services increased by 24,826 people in August in relation to the previous month (0.9%) driven, above all, by the service sector, which concentrated a good part of the increase in unemployment. The rise in August puts an end to a streak of five consecutive months of declines in unemployment.

At the end of the eighth month of the year, the total number of unemployed once again exceeded the barrier of 2.7 million people, from which it had fallen for the first time in 15 years last June.

Specifically, August ended with 2,702,700 unemployed people, its lowest number in a month of August since 2008, according to data published this Monday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

The Department headed by Yolanda Díaz has highlighted that, for 25 years, unemployment has risen in August due to "the seasonal cycles of the production model." Thus, in seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment fell in August of this year by 23,373 people.

The rise in unemployment in August of this year is lower than that experienced in the same month of 2022, when unemployment increased by 40,428 people. It contrasts, on the other hand, with the decrease in August 2021, when the return to normality after the pandemic led to a drop in unemployment of 82,583 people. Except for 2021, the rise in unemployment in August of this year is the lowest in this month since 2016.

Since the beginning of the comparable historical series, in 1996, unemployment has fallen six times in August and has risen 22 times, especially in 2008, when the financial crisis led unemployment to increase by more than 103,000 people.

In the last year, unemployment has accumulated a decrease of 221,540 unemployed, which is 7.6% less, with a decline in female unemployment of 121,560 women (-7%) and a fall in male unemployment of 99,980 men (-8, 5%).

Unemployment fell in August in agriculture, with 2,874 fewer unemployed than in July (-2.7%), and in the group without previous employment, where it decreased by 2,672 people (-1.1%). On the other hand, it increased in services by 23,097 people (1.2%), in construction by 4,792 unemployed (2.3%) and in industry, which added 2,483 unemployed compared to the previous month (1.2%).

Unemployment increased in August in both sexes, although more among men. Specifically, male unemployment rose by 13,869 men (1.3%), compared to a rise in female unemployment of 10,957 women (0.7%).

Thus, at the end of August, the total number of unemployed women stood at 1,629,441 unemployed, its lowest level in a month of August since 2008, while the number of unemployed men totaled 1,073,259 unemployed.

By age, unemployment among young people under 25 years of age increased by 2.1% in August, with 3,919 more unemployed than at the end of July, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over increased by 20,907 unemployed ( 0 .8%).

Work has highlighted that the total number of unemployed under 25 years of age reached 187,597 unemployed at the end of August, accumulating 28 consecutive months of year-on-year declines.

Registered unemployment rose in August in all the autonomous communities except La Rioja, where it fell by 49 people. The greatest increases occurred in Catalonia (7,516 unemployed), the Valencian Community (3,190 unemployed) and Andalusia (2,882 unemployed).

In percentage terms, however, the most intense increases were recorded by the Balearic Islands (3.3%) and the Basque Country and Catalonia (2.3% in both cases).

As for the provinces, unemployment fell in August in seven of them, especially in Huelva (-405 unemployed) and León (-288), and increased in 45, mainly in Barcelona (5,431 unemployed), Madrid (2,806) and Valencia ( 1,740).

Registered unemployment among foreigners decreased by 1,924 unemployed compared to the previous month (-0.6%), until the total number of unemployed immigrants stood at 336,159, which means 20,617 fewer unemployed than a year earlier (-5.8%) .

In August, 1,088,831 contracts were registered, 15.2% less than in the same month of 2022. Of all of them, 418,927 were permanent contracts, a figure 17.3% lower than that of August 2022.

In total, 38.47% of the contracts carried out in August were permanent, a percentage point lower than that registered in July, when the proportion of permanent contracts was 39.57%.

Of the total number of permanent contracts signed in August, 171,886 were full-time, 21% less than in the same month last year; 152,495 were permanent-discontinuous contracts (-10.3%) and 94,546 were permanent part-time contracts (-20.5%).

Of all the contracts signed in August, 669,904 were temporary contracts, 13.8% less than in the same month of 2022.

In the first eight months of the year, just over 4.4 million permanent contracts have been signed, 1.4% less than in the same period of 2022, and 5.77 million temporary contracts, 28.2% less .

The Ministry has also reported that spending on unemployment benefits reached 1,780.7 million euros in July (latest data available), 8.3% more than in the same month of 2022.

The benefits paid since January of this year incorporate the increase in the regulatory base to 60% from the seventh month, compared to the percentage of 50% that had been applied since 2012 for the calculation of the benefit.

As a consequence of this, the average gross amount of the contributory unemployment benefit increased by 7.4% year-on-year in July, up to 926.3 euros per month.

The average monthly expense per beneficiary, without including the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, amounted to 1,021.2 euros in the month of July, which is 65.8 euros more than in the same month of 2022 (6.9%).

The total number of beneficiaries of unemployment benefits stood at 1,779,849 people at the end of the seventh month of the year, 1.2% more than in July 2022, reaching the coverage rate of 70.82%, compared to 64, 44% from a year earlier. It is the first time that this rate exceeds 70% since 2011, according to Trabajo.

The benefit data is always one month behind the unemployment data, so the Ministry has published this Monday the unemployment figures for August and the benefit statistics for July.