Spain: Unemployment rate rises in first quarter of the year
The jobless rate rose to 13.3% in Q1 from 12.9% in Q4 2022. The figure was marred by an increase in labor force. In absolute terms, the number of unemployed workers increased by 103,800 people to 3.1 million in Q1.
Moreover, jobs were shed in Q1. The industrial sector shed the most jobs (-11,200), followed by the agricultural (-5,000) and the construction sectors (-2,700), while the services sector (+7,800) added jobs. Overall, a total of 11,100 jobs were shed from the prior quarter. For its part, the workforce rose by 92,700 people in Q1 to a total of 23.6 million.
Commenting on the outlook, Wouter Thierie, economist at ING, stated:
“After the summer, labour market dynamics are set to weaken somewhat, mainly on the back of a slowing economy. The European Central Bank’s tighter monetary policy will reduce investment dynamics among companies, which is likely to lead to slower employment growth. However, given the current labour shortage, we do not expect a significant rise in the unemployment rate. Before this will happen, we would first have to observe a strong decline in hiring intentions, which is not yet the case”.