The data published this Thursday shows a photo of 2022 in which it appears as a good year for employment, but with a bad ending and with the added unknown of whether the break is temporary or will continue in the coming months. If we look at the global for the year, the labor market shows its resilience, close to 20.5 million employed people, but in the last quarter the bill for the slowdown in the economy has been paid, which has caused an upturn in the number of unemployed until it exceeds again the psychological barrier of the three million unemployed.
There are two consecutive quarters in which unemployment increases, and this despite the fact that the last of the year is usually good, but this time it has not been the case. Specifically, the data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday show that the fourth quarter of last year ended with 43,800 more unemployed compared to the previous quarter, and thus the total number rises to 3,024,000 unemployed. The unemployment rate stands at 12.9%, which is 21 hundredths above the previous quarter.
It is a rise in unemployment in a quarter in which it usually falls. To be precise, you have to go back to 2017 to see an increase in the number of unemployed in this period of the year. In addition, it means linking two consecutive quarters of increased unemployment, the third and the fourth.
This slowdown is also noticeable in job creation, because the number of employed people decreases by 81,900 compared to the previous quarter. Here, too, we must go back to 2017 to observe a reduction in the number of employed. It is a slowdown in the final part of the year that raises concerns about the coming months, but does not obscure the overall balance of the year. When examining the whole of 2022, the labor market closes with the creation of 278,900 jobs, ending up close to 20.4 million employed. For its part, unemployment has been reduced to a rate of 12.9%, which means 79,900 fewer people unemployed.
"It is a very positive behavior of employment in the first part of the year and a moderation in the second part," said the Secretary of State for the Economy, Gonzalo García Andrés. Regarding the question of whether this brake is temporary or will be prolonged, García Andrés believes that it is purely temporary. “We don't expect it to be a change in trend, but a certain moderation, a pause and the pace of job creation to continue,” he added.
One element to highlight in the last quarter is that the slowdown in job creation is especially noticeable in the private sector. Although in the year as a whole this sector is clearly predominant in creating employment, the tables were reversed in the last quarter. In the public sector, 20,000 jobs are created, while in the private sector, 101,900 are lost.
Also in the last quarter of the year it can be seen how employment increases in agriculture, with 24,200 more workers, but on the other hand, it decreases in the other sectors; especially in construction and industry.
In Catalonia, unemployment has increased by 21,900 people during the last quarter of 2022 and the unemployment rate has increased to 9.9%. It is the second autonomous community where it has risen the most between October and December, with the Balearic Islands leading the way (29,700 more unemployed), and followed by the Community of Madrid, with 10,600 more. Examining the global for 2022, Catalonia closes the year with unemployment of 9.91%, which is three points less than the national average data. Thus, the total number of unemployed in Catalonia reaches 387,200.
For the Ministry of Economy, the data shows the structural change in the labor market after a year of labor reform, with indefinite hiring reaching 14.3 million workers and the temporary rate reducing more than seven points in 2022 , with which it stands at the minimum of 17.9%.
Unions are on the same line. The CCOO Confederal Secretary for Trade Union Action, Mari Cruz Vicente, said that these data confirm "the good employment trend" and insisted on the quality of employment created. “The mantra that indefinite contracts slows down job creation is broken,” said Mari Cruz Vicente. On behalf of the UGT, the Secretary for Territorial Policies, Cristina Estévez, recognized that there is an economic slowdown in the labor market in the complex context that we have in the European war environment”, also underlining the quality of employment created.
For its part, the CEOE warned that the data shows a stagnation of employment, following the trend of previous quarters. The loss in the private sector of more than 100,000 jobs in these three months is especially noteworthy. The vice president of the CEOE, Íñigo Fernández de Mesa, demanded that the Government support measures for companies to alleviate "the shadows" that appear in these data, and also that the businessman is not charged with more taxes and his contributions are not increased to Social Security.
