Spain: Unemployment rate jumps to over two-year high in Q3
The jobless rate climbed for the third quarter in a row to 16.3% in Q3 from 15.3% in Q2 as Covid-19 continued to take its toll on the labor market. The figure came in slightly above expectations and marked the highest reading since Q1 2018. Moreover, the print still masks the full extent of the crisis by not counting those under temporary furlough schemes, which have been extended until January 2021, as effectively unemployed. In absolute terms, the number of unemployed workers stood at 3.72 million, above the 3.37 million recorded in the previous quarter.
In line with the gradual relaxation of containment measures in Q3, jobs were created across nearly all sectors of the economy. The services segment added the most jobs as the vital tourism industry started to come back to life (+476,300), followed by the construction (+80,300) and industrial (+45,400) sectors. In contrast, the agricultural sector shed 32,300 jobs. Overall, a total of 569,600 jobs were gained from the prior quarter, when more than one million were lost. Meanwhile, temporary and permanent jobs were up 422,900 and 158,300 in Q3, respectively. For its part, the workforce rose by 924,600 people in Q3 to a total of 22.9 million.