Spain records its biggest unemployment drop since 2008

The number of officially registered unemployed people in Spain fell by 74,381 in November, the largest monthly drop since 2008, according to the latest figures released on Thursday by the Spanish ministry of labour and social security, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

According to the latest report, this drop leaves the total unemployed at just over 3 million, the lowest figure for November since 2008 and largely below the country’s unemployment levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unemployment has fallen by 826,102 people in the last 9 months, the government reported on Tuesday. In November, Social Security enrollment/affiliation also rose with an increase of 61,768 jobs on a monthly average, to a record 19.7 million. November 2021 also saw another record high: 282,981 new permanent contracts signed, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

There are now 291,799 more people employed than in February 2020, before the “official” start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of workers affected by temporary lay-off schemes (known as ERTE) continued to decrease: from 165,624 in October to 125,632 at the beginning of December.

The ERTE scheme sees the Spanish state pay workers around 70% of their normal salary and prohibits companies firing people.

In case of fraud or redundancies, companies must return exemptions from contributions to the social security system and risk heavy penalties. Those benefiting from the ERTE schemes are officially considered as employed.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)