The January cost is always paid in terms of employment, a bill that also had to be borne this year. Now, the second month of 2023, February, has closed with conflicting results. On the one hand, 88,918 new Social Security affiliates have been added, which has not been achieved in a month of February since 2015, while on the other hand, unemployment has increased by 2,618 people.
With regard to Social Security affiliation, February ended with 88,918 more affiliates, bringing a total of 20,172,142 affiliates. It is the highest figure for a month of February in the historical series.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the formula preferred by the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security and which involves adapting the data to the calendar effect, February adds 81,808 new affiliates, which represents a greater increase than the average variation of the last three months, which remains at 23,713.
Another piece of information highlighted by the Ministry of Inclusion is that the percentage of affiliates with a temporary contract has dropped to 14%, which contrasts with the average of 30% registered before the reform came into force, a few years ago. fourteen months. This effect is even more accentuated among those under 30 years of age, where temporary employment has dropped 30 points, from 53% to 22%.
Regarding the registered unemployment data, February ended with an increase of 2,618 more unemployed, which represents a 0.1% increase in percentage terms and which, according to the interpretation of the Ministry of Labor, reflects a trend towards stability in the labor market. . When compared with the same month of previous years, the results are very diverse. They range from a decrease in unemployment of 11,000 people last year to the brutal increase of more than 44,000 in 2021, with the full effects of the pandemic. Going back a little further in time, a decrease in unemployment in February of the years 2017, 2018 and 2020 is combined with an increase in 2019.
With this increase in unemployment in February, the total number of registered unemployed stands at 2,911,015, which is the lowest level for this month since 2008. This month, unemployment has increased slightly in both women, men and minors 25 years old. Regarding these young people, there are 11,862 more unemployed, bringing the total to 215,366, which in any case is the lowest figure in the historical series.
If examined by sector, unemployment increases in agriculture and especially in the group without previous employment, while it decreases in services, construction and industry.
Regarding hiring, in February more than one million contracts were registered, of which almost half (45%) are permanent. Of these, 46% are full-time, 24% part-time and 30% permanent.
