With the holidays over and the well-known high seasonality of the Spanish economy, September is a month where unemployment traditionally rises, and this year the rule has been fulfilled again. The ninth month of the year has ended with 17,679 more unemployed registered in the SEPE offices.
In this way, three consecutive months of increase in unemployment are chained: a July in which the increase came as a surprise and an August and a September where this increase is usually the norm. It is true that the rise in unemployment in September was lower than in the pre-pandemic years, specifically, in the 2017-19 period, when the average increase exceeded 20,000 unemployed.
"This is a smaller increase than usual and that follows the general trend of this month, marked by strong seasonality after the summer campaign," they indicate from the Ministry of Labor, adding that the total of 2,941,919 unemployed is the lowest figure in a September month since 2008.
By economic sectors, unemployment has increased especially in services, with 24,691 more people and in the group without previous employment, with 5,016. On the other hand, it has decreased in agriculture (7,024 less), construction (4,765) and industry (239).
Among young people under 25 years of age, unemployment has increased by 6.47% compared to the previous month, which means 12,787 more unemployed, which brings them to a total of 210,273.
Unemployment rises in most of the autonomous communities, in all except five. Where the increase is most forceful is in Andalusia, with 6,788 more unemployed, followed by Catalonia, with 3,373, Asturias, Galicia and Extremadura, among others.
On the other hand, permanent contracts account for almost half of the total of 1,660,792 contracts signed during the month. To be exact, there are 775,856, 46.72% of the total. Of these contracts, 38% are full-time, 25% part-time, and 36% permanent discontinuous.
Regarding Social Security, September ended with 29,286 more average members, an increase higher than the pre-pandemic period, the average for the years 2017-19. Membership among women has grown by 61,351, thanks to the increase in the education and administrative activities sectors, while among men it has fallen by 32,065. With this increase, the total number of affiliates stands at 20,180,287.
In seasonally adjusted terms, that is, discounting the calendar effect, Social Security adds 51,079 new affiliates in September, thus accumulating 17 consecutive months of job creation. The data from the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security also show more dynamism in sectors with high added value, such as IT and telecommunications or professional, scientific and technical activities.
