After seven years of decline in unemployment and six years more employment, the corona pandemic in 2020 caused a break in the trend for Spain. The INE published figures that reveal the havoc wrought by Covid-19 on the labour market and unemployment in Spain.
As a result of the corona pandemic last year 622,600 jobs were lost in Spain. This was an increase in the unemployment rate by 2.35% from the previous year. This is recorded by the “Labour Force Survey” of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in Spain. An article in the Spanish news site Heraldo, wrote on Thursday that the blows of the pandemic were felt in all sectors in Spain. The services sector was particularly hard hit.
Unemployment rate in Spain rises to 16.1 percent
The number of employees with a temporary contract decreased the most. Of the people who lost their job in 2020, 63% had a temporary employment contract. Spain closed 2019 with an unemployment rate of 13.7%. In 2020, a further 527,900 unemployed people were added. And as a result, the rate of unemployment in Spain rose to 16.1% at the end of 2020.
Fourth quarter 2020 growth in the Spanish labour market again
Despite the negative corona year, unemployment fell by 3,100 in the fourth quarter of 2020. According to the INE, there are currently 3,719,800 unemployed people in Spain. Of this number, 1,728,400 are men and 1,991,400 are women. In the last quarter of 2020, the number of unemployed in Spain increased by 167,400 to 19.34 million people. This number does not include people who make use of an ERTE scheme because these people are not (yet) seen as unemployed.
Job market per Spanish region
Looking at the labour market by Spanish region, most jobs lost were in Catalonia. This is followed by the Canary Islands and Madrid. The INE survey is conducted every three months. This survey provides alternative information about the labour market in Spain.
