Unemployment rises by 2,618 people in February, but 88,918 jobs are created

The Ministry of Labor has highlighted that the "slight" rise in unemployment registered in February, of "barely" 0.1% in percentage terms, reflects "the trend of stability in the labor market."

The rise in February of this year, the second in a row after that of January, contrasts with the decrease of 11,394 people experienced in February 2022, but is below the February average of the last 15 years, which shows an increase of 35,280 unemployed. Since the beginning of the comparable historical series, in 1996, unemployment has risen 13 times in February and has fallen 15 times.

After the rebound in February, the total number of unemployed stood at 2,911,015 unemployed, its lowest figure in a month of February since 2008, according to Trabajo.

In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment decreased in the second month of 2023 by 6,345 people.

In the last year, unemployment accumulated a decrease of 200,669 unemployed, which is 6.4% less, with a drop in female unemployment of 96,427 women (-5.4%) and a drop in male unemployment of 104,242 men (- 8.2%).

Unemployment fell in February in the services sector, with 3,868 fewer unemployed (-0.19%); in industry, where it fell by 2,399 people (-1%), and in construction, which lost 2,392 unemployed (-1.07%). However, these decreases could not offset the increases in unemployment in agriculture (1,138 unemployed, 1%) and, above all, in the group without previous employment, where it rose by 10,139 people (4.1%).

Unemployment increased in February among women and fell among men. Specifically, female unemployment increased by 4,135 women (0.2%), compared to a drop in male unemployment of 1,517 men (-0.1%). Thus, at the end of February, the total number of unemployed women rose to 1,744,220 people, while the number of unemployed men stood at 1,166,795 unemployed.

By age, unemployment among young people under 25 years of age rose 11.8% in February, with 11,862 more unemployed than at the end of January, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over fell by 9,244 unemployed (-0 ,3%).

After the advance in February, the total number of unemployed under 25 years of age rose to a total of 215,366 unemployed. Despite this, it is its lowest figure in a month of February in the historical series, as stressed by the Department headed by Yolanda Díaz.

Registered unemployment rose in February in eight autonomous communities and fell in nine. The greatest increases were registered in Madrid (5,040 unemployed), the Canary Islands (2,726) and Murcia (1,583), while the greatest decreases were in the Valencian Community (-1,632 unemployed), Castilla y León (-1,542 unemployed) and Castilla-La Mancha (-1,309).

The average affiliation to Social Security has gained 88,918 affiliates in February, which represents a month-on-month increase of 0.44%, while it has grown by 2.4% compared to February of last year.

The number of average affiliates thus stands at 20,170,142 (10,683,573 men and 9,486,570 women), which is the highest figure in the historical series for a month of February. In addition, the number of contributors has grown by 475,870 people in the last year.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of contributors to Social Security chained its seventh consecutive monthly increase in February after adding the system 81,808 employed compared to January (0.4%), up to a total of 20,380,428 affiliates, thus exceeding, for the first time time, the barrier of 20.3 million contributors.

The monthly rise in average affiliates in February was noted in both sexes, although somewhat more among men, who gained 45,206 contributors in the month compared to January (0.4%), compared to an increase in female employment of 43,713 employed (0 ,4%).

Thus, the number of working women stood at 9,486,570 affiliates at the end of February, while the number of employed men ended the second month of the year at 10,683,573 contributors.

The average affiliation of foreigners, for its part, grew by 30,684 contributors in February, 1.2% compared to the previous month, to stand at 2,466,243 employed. In this way, a third of the new affiliates in February were foreigners.

By schemes, the General, the most numerous in the system, gained 84,917 average affiliates in February (0.5%), up to a total of 16,798,761 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) added 3,448 affiliates to its ranks ( 0.1%), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,311,051.

Within the General Regime, commerce led the largest drop in employment after the end of the sales campaign, losing 11,781 contributors compared to January (-0.5%). Health activities followed, with 9,934 fewer employees (-0.5%), and administrative activities, where affiliation contracted by 3,174 contributors (-0.2%).

In contrast, the greatest increases in employment were registered in education, which added 26,798 new affiliates in February (2.5%); hospitality, with 25,073 more contributors (2%), and construction, where 22,411 more workers registered (2.4%).

For its part, the Special Agrarian System lost 15,668 jobs in the second month of the year (-2.2%) and the Home registered 2,182 registrations (0.6%).

The Ministry stresses that membership growth is "remarkable" in sectors with high added value, such as IT and telecommunications, which have 20.2% more members than before the pandemic, or professional, scientific and technical activities, where occupancy has increased by 11.8%. In fact, according to Social Security, one in four members joins these "highly productive" sectors.

The average affiliation rose in February in all the autonomous communities. The largest increases, in absolute terms, were recorded in Catalonia (25,603 more employed), the Balearic Islands (11,792), Madrid (11,690), the Valencian Community (7,836) and Andalusia (7,042 contributors).

In relative values, the greatest advances were recorded by the Balearic Islands (2.6%), Catalonia (0.7%), La Rioja (0.6%) and Aragón (0.5%).

Compared to before the pandemic, all regions had higher employment levels in February, especially the communities in the south of the country and the archipelagos, with employment growth of more than 5.5%.

On the other hand, the Ministry has reported that workers in ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons (ETOP) stood at 13,025 at the end of February, slightly below the 13,097 of the previous month.

In total, as of February 28, there were 14,624 workers in ERTE, of which 13,025 were in an ERTE-ETOP and 1,599 in an ERTE due to force majeure.