Positive year for employment in Catalonia. 2023 closed with more jobs and less unemployment, but with a negative final stretch of the year, even with an increase in unemployment.
This is shown by the figures published this Wednesday by the Ministries of Labor and Social Security. As for affiliates, Catalonia added 94,028 jobs in the year, a year in which only the Community of Madrid created more jobs, with 135,033 new jobs.
The increase in employment is mainly due to the growth in Barcelona and its 68,305 new affiliates in the last 12 months, by the 11,139 in Tarragona, the 10,239 in Girona and the 4,345 in Lleida. The number is very similar to that of 2022, although about 2,000 members below. The year closes with 3,709 million members.
In the month of December, marked by Christmas shopping, the market deflated and 3,548 fewer members were registered, with a decrease in three of the four provinces: Girona (-2,553), Tarragona (-2,548) and Barcelona (-696). . Only Lleida created employment, with 2,250 new members. The behavior was the same last year, although 2,132 positions were destroyed then.
On the unemployment side the situation is similar. Unemployment also fell last year, although by a limited amount, with 2,957 fewer unemployed. Catalonia is far from the reduction rates of other autonomies such as Andalusia (32,157 fewer unemployed), the Canary Islands (-15,315), the Valencian Community (-13,722) or Galicia (-12,718), in the lead. It does exceed the Community of Madrid and its reduction of 1,924 unemployed.
The end of the year has not been positive. In December unemployment increased, with 3,474 new unemployed, especially in Barcelona (2,768 more unemployed) and Tarragona (445). It is the worst record at the national level, in a month in which unemployment fell by more than 27,000 people, with Andalusia and Madrid in the lead. In this way, in total in Catalonia there are 343,381 unemployed and only Andalusia has more (694,940).
The Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent, has stated that 2023 has been "a very good year for employment, which has overcome the bad expectations that there were." Torrent has also highlighted that membership is record: "We have never had so many people working."
The Pimec employers' association is more critical. He states that the figures show a greater slowdown in activity and that the market is suffering from increased costs and rigidity in the workplace. Its general secretary, Josep Ginesta, highlights that Catalan indicators are worse than the rest of the State. "In December, registered unemployment had never increased, except in 2020 due to the pandemic," he says.
The sector with the most unemployed is services, with almost 250,000. Industry follows at a great distance with 37,697 and construction, with 26,587. In the case of agriculture, there are 5,591 unemployed.
Catalonia registers more stops (196,253) than unemployed (147,128), of which 20,596 are under 25 years of age. The Secretary of Economy and Labor of CC.OO. of Catalonia, Ricard Bellera, has warned about the "difficulty" of reducing unemployment among long-term workers looking for work, of whom 75% are over 45 years old and have been in this situation for at least a year.
