Catalonia closes a positive 2022 in terms of work. Unemployment falls by 22,820 people, to the lowest since the end of 2007, while 96,649 jobs are created, according to data revealed this Monday by the Labor and Social Security ministries.
In the last month of the year, which is usually positive except in 2020 due to the outbreak of the pandemic, another 2,644 people became unemployed, especially in the service sector (1,939). Membership did not shine so brightly, with 2,132 jobs destroyed.
"The country has resisted in a very harsh context due to the increase in prices. The world of work has shown strength and resilience in the face of the successive obstacles generated by the war in Ukraine", has assessed the Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent .
In total, the autonomy has 346,338 unemployed people. Of these, 148,257 are men and 198,081 are women, while the number of young people under 25 years of age amounts to 19,787.
In 2022 unemployment falls by 6.2%, below the 8.64% of the national average, after leaving the lists 22,820 people. A lower figure than the 67,918 in Madrid, the 58,544 in Andalusia and the 33,241 in the Valencian Community.
Back in Catalan lands, half of the reduction in unemployment, 11,449 people, concentrated in Barcelona. Tarragona continues to reduce unemployment, with 5,549 fewer unemployed, compared to 3,533 in Girona and 2,289 in Lleida.
Barcelona is, in any case, the province with the most unemployed, with 254,340. By sectors, services are the area with the highest number of unemployed, with 250,549, with agriculture on the opposite side (6,164).
The trend is similar in affiliation to Social Security. Catalonia adds 96,649 affiliates in the year, up to 3.61 million. The main boost is given in Barcelona, with 79,811 more affiliates, compared to 9,132 in Girona, 6,130 in Tarragona and 2,577 in Lleida. Only Madrid surpasses Catalonia in job creation in the year, with 132,992 new jobs. "The job market continues to be capable of generating employment, which is increasingly stable," CC.OO. highlighted, noting that 4 out of 10 contracts signed in December have been permanent.
The generation of employment, however, suffered a slowdown in the last month, since 2,132 affiliates were registered less than the previous month, escaping the national improvement. For the employers' association Pimec, there are "very clear symptoms of slowdown" in the labor market, although "we see the going half full", according to the words of its general secretary, Josep Ginesta. In a similar vein, Torrent has said that he is facing 2023 with "moderate optimism." "Uncertainties (mainly inflation and war) will remain," he warned
