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UNEMPLOYMENT

Unemployment climbs in Spain after busy tourist summer season ends

Spain is still the second-worst performer in the European Union after Greece where employment is concerned. Now nearly 3.4 million people in Spain are officially registered as being out of work, new statistics show.

Published: 4 September 2017 09:40 CEST
Updated: 4 September 2017 15:40 CEST

Jobless claims increased by 46,000 people in August compared to the previous month of July as the peak tourist season died down, El Pais reports. 

Currently in Spain, 3,382,324 people are registered as unemployed, though this figure has previously risen above four million.

But these statistics can be considered positive, according to Euro Weekly News, as the summer's unemployment rate is the lowest the country has had in the past eight years.

READ ALSO: Spain is continuing to beat expectations on unemployment

At the height of the economic crisis in 2013, Spain's unemployment rate rose to close to 27 percent, before falling again to reach 18.6 percent last year, still far higher than pre-crisis levels.

“The unemployment rate this year will clearly fall below 17 percent,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told reporters in March, which he said meant jobs for “more than half a million people.”

The Spanish government had initially forecast it would reach 17.6 percent at the end of 2017.

In July 2017, the unemployment rate in Spain was 17.1 percent, according to Eurostat.

The majority of new jobs created in Spain this year were in the hospitality industry and the health and social services industries.

Manufacturing, education and construction numbers dwindled. But statistically they’re expected to recover again in September.

 

BUSINESS

Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown

Unemployment in France has fallen slightly, despite the ongoing ravages of the health crisis and consequent lockdown, latest statistics show.

Published: 27 April 2021 16:46 CEST
Unemployment in France falls slightly despite the lockdown
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

The number of unemployed job seekers in mainland France fell by 0.4 percent in the first three months of 2021, according to figures published by the French Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.

There were 3,560,600 unemployed registered at the Pôle Emploi (unemployment office), 12,200 fewer than during the last three months of 2020.

This follows a 2.7 percent fall in the final three months of 2020 – but the rate is still up 6.8 percent compared with the first three months of 2020, before Europe began to feel the economic impact of the Covid pandemic.

Currently all ‘non essential’ shops in France have been closed since April 3rd, while bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, cinemas, theatres, museums and tourist sites have been closed since October 2020.

Despite the fall the total number of job seekers, the number of people who were in work but with reduced hours was up by 0.8 percent at the start of 2021, to 2,156,300.

That means that in total 5,716,900 people in mainland France were registered with Pôle emploi during this period, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with a year ago.

“Over the course of 2020, in one year, unemployment rose by 8 percent. This is obviously a lot, but we must remember that during the crisis of 2008-2009, unemployment leapt by 25 percent, so we can see that the government assistance is working,” Minister of Labour Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Tuesday.

The French government has put together a huge package of economic aid to try and mitigate the effects of the repeated lockdowns, from chômage partiel (furlough) schemes for employees to aid packages for business owners and the self-employed. But many small retailers have been hit hard by the three periods of closure for non-essential shops, while the tourist, leisure and hospitality sectors have also had a devastating year.

The economic downturn linked to the pandemic has disproportionately affected young people in France.  Across all categories of job seekers (unemployed and with reduced hours), the latest figures show a rise of 7.1 percent in a year for those under 25, compared to 4.5 percent for the 25-29 age range, and 4.8 percent for those aged 50 and over.

Men are also more likely to have signed up to Pôle emploi, with a 6.1 percent increase on last year, compared to a 3.8 percent increase among women.

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