The situation is still far from rosy, but there is a ray of hope after unemployment figures for March 2021 show rate is falling for the first time in five months. Unemployment remains below the 4 million threshold.
A year after the start of the pandemic, Spain has a further 400,000 unemployed people. Despite this huge number, it is more optimistic than the low of 900,000 new unemployed people reached at one point during the corona pandemic.
Last month, unemployment fell by 59,149 people, a decrease of 1.5%. On the other hand, Social Security gained some 70,790 premium payers in March, an increase of 0.4% percent compared to February. This brings the total number of workers in Spain to 18.92 million.
ERTE fundamental in Spain
In March 2020, Spain had just over 3.5 million unemployed. It is currently over 3.94 million. ERTE is still a fundamental tool in this. In March 2021, 779,562 people made use of this scheme. For the time being, these people are not included in the unemployment figures.
Spain closes difficult quarter
“All in all, Spain is closing a very difficult quarter.” Those were the words of Vice President Calviño of Economic Affairs who warned on Monday the numbers would not be positive. According to her, the effect of Covid-19 is weighing heavily on the Spanish economy. The consequences of storm Filomena are also added.
Unemployment in Spain again below the 4 million mark
March puts an end to five consecutive months of rising unemployment in Spain. With an unemployment rate of more than 3.94 million Spaniards, it sits below 4 million; a limit that was crossed in February.
