Spain: Unemployment rate broadly stable in Q1
The jobless rate dipped from 16.1% in Q4 2020 to 16.0% in the first quarter of 2021, when a third wave of Covid-19 infections hit the country. The figure surprised market analysts, whom had expected it to rise, but was due to a decline in labor force. In absolute terms, the number of unemployed workers stood at 3.65 million in Q1, down from Q4 2020’s 3.72 million. That said, the print still masks the full extent of the crisis by not counting those under temporary furlough schemes as effectively unemployed.
Jobs were shed across almost all sectors of the economy in Q1. The services segment cut the most jobs (-83,400), followed by the industrial (-51,500) and construction (-18,500) sectors. On the other hand, the agricultural sector added 15,800 jobs. Overall, a total of 137,300 jobs were lost from the prior quarter. In geographical terms, the Madrid region created the highest number of jobs, followed by the Catalan community, while the Valencian community lost the most jobs, followed by Andalusia. Meanwhile, temporary jobs were down 168,600 while permanent jobs were up 31,300 in Q1. For its part, the workforce fell by 203,400 people in Q1 to a total of 22.9 million.