Thus, at the end of March, the total number of unemployed stood at 2,862,260, its lowest figure this month since 2008, according to the Ministry of Labor.
In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment decreased in the third month of 2023 by 38,737 people.
In the last year, unemployment has accumulated a decrease of 246,503 unemployed, which is 7.9% less, with a drop in female unemployment of 113,105 women (-6.2%) and a drop in male unemployment of 133,398 men (- 10.4%).
The drop in unemployment in March of this year, which puts an end to two consecutive months of promotions, far exceeds that experienced in March 2022, when as soon as the war broke out in Ukraine, unemployment only fell by 2,921 people. However, the decline this year has been less than that registered in March 2021 (-59,149 unemployed).
Except for the period 2020-2022, affected by the pandemic and the war, the drop in unemployment in March of this year is the most pronounced in this month since 2016, when it fell by 58,216 people. Since the beginning of the comparable historical series, in 1996, unemployment has fallen 23 times in March and has risen 5 times, especially in 2020, when the arrival of Covid triggered unemployment by more than 300,000 people.
The department headed by Yolanda Díaz has stressed that the drop in unemployment in March is “especially positive in an international context of uncertainty”, especially “in the financial sphere”. However, it must be qualified that these data include intermittent permanent workers among the employed, but these workers spend long periods without employment. For this reason, the Government has received a lot of criticism because this statistical change somehow makes up reality. At the moment, Trabajo does not report the number of discontinuous landlines.
Unemployment fell in March in four economic sectors, especially in the service sector, which reduced 42,789 unemployed (-2%) due to hiring in the hotel industry for Easter. It was followed by construction, where unemployment fell by 3,898 people (-1.7%); industry, with 3,419 fewer unemployed (-1.47%) and agriculture, with 2,648 fewer unemployed (-2.3%).
However, unemployment rose in the previously unemployed group, which after adding 10,139 unemployed in February, added another 3,999 unemployed to its ranks in March (1.5%).
Unemployment fell in March for both sexes, although somewhat more among women. Specifically, female unemployment fell by 25,897 women (-1.5%), compared to a drop in male unemployment of 22,858 men (-1.9%).
Thus, at the end of March, the total number of unemployed women stood at 1,718,323 unemployed, its lowest figure in the last 15 years, while the number of unemployed men totaled 1,143,937 unemployed.
Registered unemployment fell in March in all the autonomous communities, except in Madrid, where it rose by 1,013 unemployed. The greatest decreases were registered in Andalucía (-15,284 unemployed), Canarias (-5,775) and Castilla y León (-4,446 unemployed).
As for the provinces, unemployment fell in 49 of them, especially in Seville (-4,053 unemployed), Malaga (-3,685) and Las Palmas (-3,323) and rose in three provinces: Madrid (1,013 unemployed), Ceuta (197 ) and Ourense (32).
For its part, the average affiliation to Social Security gained 206,410 affiliates in March, which represents a month-on-month increase of 1.02%. It is the largest increase in average affiliates in a month of March in the entire historical series.
The number of average affiliates thus stood at 20,376,552 (10,778,350 men and 9,598,202 women), the highest figure in the series. In this way, in the last year employment has grown by 2.73% with 542,049 more affiliates.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of Social Security contributors chained its eighth consecutive monthly increase in March after adding the system 151,943 employed compared to February (0.75%), up to a total of 20,532,371 affiliates, thus exceeding, for the first time, the barrier of 20.5 million contributors.
The Ministry of Social Security, which has described the growth in affiliation in March as “exceptional”, has highlighted that it closes a record first quarter, with a historic rise in employment of 291,477 affiliates in the seasonally adjusted series.
Likewise, he stressed that the growth rate in March is “more than triple” than the average of the previous three months and that the current level of affiliation is 1.1 million higher than that existing before the start of the pandemic, in February 2020.
The Ministry of Escrivá has highlighted that the “dynamism in the labor market is helping to strengthen the pension system”, with the contributor/pensioner ratio at 2.41, “the highest level of the decade”.
The monthly increase in average affiliates in March was noted in both sexes, although somewhat more among women, who gained 111,632 contributors in the month compared to February (1.17%), compared to an increase in male employment of 94,777 employed (0 .9%).
Thus, the number of working women stood at 9,598,202 affiliates at the end of March, a new all-time record, while the number of employed men ended the third month of the year at 10,778,350 contributors.
The average affiliation of foreigners, for its part, grew by 59,644 contributors in March, 2.4% compared to the previous month, to stand at 2,525,887 employed.
By schemes, the General, the most numerous in the system, gained 193,076 average affiliates in March (1.1%), up to a total of 16,991,837 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) added 11,185 affiliates to its ranks ( 0.3%), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,322,236.
Within the General Regime, the increase in affiliation was widespread. The hotel and catering industry led the greatest upturn in employment due to the proximity of Easter Week, gaining 71,808 contributors compared to February (5.6%).
Construction followed, with 14,957 more employees (1.5%); Public Administrations, which added 14,938 new employees (1.2%) and health activities, where affiliation grew by 13,624 contributors (0.77%).
For its part, the Special Agrarian System gained 2,417 jobs in the third month of the year (0.3%) and the Home registered 2,018 new jobs (0.5%).
The Ministry underlines that the growth of affiliation is notable in sectors with high added value, such as information technology and telecommunications, which have 20.8% more affiliates than before the pandemic, or professional, scientific and technical activities, where the occupancy has increased by 12.4%. In fact, according to Social Security, one in four members joins these “highly productive” sectors.
The average affiliation rose in March in all the autonomous communities. The greatest increases, in absolute terms, were registered in Andalusia (44,657 employed), Catalonia (33,358), the Balearic Islands (29,853) and Madrid (23,660 contributors).
In relative values, the greatest advances were made by the Balearic Islands (6.4%), Andalucía (1.36%), Cantabria (1.22%), Asturias (1.06%) and Murcia (1%).
Compared to before the pandemic, all regions had higher employment levels in March, especially the communities in the south of the country and the archipelagos, with employment growth of more than 5.9%.
