This is the third consecutive monthly increase in registered unemployment, which reflects the total number of people registered at employment offices until the last business day of each month.
In September the labor market gained 18,295 jobs, but unemployment rose by 19,768 people once the end of hiring for the summer tourist season concluded, while August added 24,826 unemployed in its first drop after five consecutive months of declines. The rise in unemployment is lower than the average for the month of October, while the total number of unemployed is at its lowest figure since 2007 for the tenth month of the year, according to the Ministry led by Yolanda Díaz.
Given that the increase in unemployment in October has been motivated by the end of summer, the vast majority of people signed up for the State Public Employment Services (SEPE, former INEM) came from the services sector: 31,281 unemployed (1.61%). It also rose in industry (2,418 more unemployed and 1.13%) and in agriculture, with 2,122 more unemployed (2.13%); and it only fell in construction, with 813 fewer unemployed (-0.39%). Unemployment in the group Without Previous Employment increased by 1,928 (0.77%).
The rise in unemployment in the month of October contrasts with the fall in unemployment that occurred in the same month last year, when unemployment fell by 27,027 people. However, in a year-on-year comparison, unemployment fell by 155,488 people (-5.33%) compared to the same month last year.
Unemployment of young people under 25 years of age grew by 6,567 people (3.20%) compared to the previous month, so that this group registers the lowest number of unemployed in the historical series for this month. Meanwhile, in the case of those over 25 years of age it increased by 30,369 (1.21%).
Unemployment rose in all the autonomous communities except the Community of Madrid, with 190 fewer people registered in the SEPE. As usual, Andalusia (7,401 unemployed), Castilla-La Mancha (4,266) and Catalonia (4,261) were in the lead due to their greater dynamism in the labor market.
By provinces, 46 registered increases, with the worst data in Málaga (3,155), Cádiz (2,815) and Barcelona (2,474), while in Valencia (-533), Almería (-363), Córdoba (-190) and Madrid ( -190) the largest decreases occurred.
Meanwhile, Social Security gained an average of 92,862 contributors last month compared to the previous month (0.45%) thanks to the boost in female hiring, with 86,876 more affiliates compared to 5,985 men, reaching a record employment of 9.83 million. , the maximum figure in the series, and the increase in affiliates in the education sector with the start of the school year. Construction, for its part, added 12,568 contributors, while it fell by 4,051 in agriculture and by 1,610 in industry.
The system reaches a total of 20,817,657 employed people, its highest level in the month of October in the historical series, but the increase in membership is the lowest for what it is historically this month, specifically, since October 2015.
In one year, from October 2022 to October 2023, there are 533,871 more members (2.6%), up to its highest number of members in the month of October. The increase in employment is slightly lower than last year (103,499) and is also somewhat below pre-pandemic October 2019, when it was 106,541.
The Ministry of Labor recognizes that this is a more moderate increase than usual in a month of incorporations into the labor market, although in a favorable context for the labor market given that both the active and employed population are at maximum levels.
The Active Population Survey (EPA) for the third quarter of the year, made public last week and which includes the evolution of the labor market during the summer season, left the unemployment rate at 11.8%, two tenths more than in the previous quarter although almost one point lower than a year ago thanks to the increase in people of age and willingness to work.
Income from social contributions has registered a growth of 9.9% until September (latest data available, given that this statistic is published a month later than that of contributions). If the effect of income from the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) is discounted, which began to be applied in January 2023, contributions grow at a rate of 8%. The contributor/pensioner ratio stands at 2.4, a decade high.
The benefits paid since January of this year incorporate the increase in the regulatory base to 60% as of the seventh month, compared to the percentage of 50% that had been applied since 2012 for the calculation of the benefit. As a consequence, the average gross amount of the contributory unemployment benefit increased by 7.9% year-on-year in September, to 968.4 euros per month.
The average monthly expenditure per beneficiary, not including the agricultural subsidy of Andalusia and Extremadura, amounted to 1,099.6 euros in the month of September, which is 72 euros more than in the same month of 2022 (7%).
The total number of beneficiaries of unemployment benefits stood at 1,687,270 people at the end of the ninth month of the year, 0.7% less than in September 2022, with the coverage rate reaching 66.07%, its highest rate. in the month of October since 2011, as highlighted by Trabajo.
The department directed by José Luis Escrivá highlights that in October, the percentage of members with an indefinite contract stands at 87%, its historical maximum, and temporary employment marks a new low at 13%.
In October, 1,396,514 contracts were registered, 8.4% less than in the same month of 2022. By type of contract, of all of them, 608,769 were permanent contracts, a figure 12.7% lower than that of October 2022. .
In total, 43.59% of the contracts made in October were indefinite, a percentage more than one point lower than that registered in September (44.78%).
Regarding the length of the day, of the total contracts in October, 244,395 were full-time, 7.3% less in interannual comparison; 212,376 were permanent-discontinuous contracts (-18.2%) and 151,998 were permanent part-time contracts (-12.5%). Of all the contracts signed in October, 787,745 were temporary contracts, 4.7% less than in the same month of 2022.
