Barcelona (CNA).- The number of unemployed in Catalonia rose by 2,412 people in January and now totals 518,080, according to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. Although the unemployment rate grew by 0.47%, it represents the smallest increase registered in January since 2007. This slight rise breaks the two-month trend of drops in the unemployment rate, but January is usually a month in which unemployment grows, due to the termination of many seasonal contracts. This is the 31st consecutive month in which unemployment has decreased in year-on-year terms. In the whole of Spain, the number of unemployed grew by 57,247 people, the best January since 2004, and now totals 4,150,755.
There are 64,689 fewer unemployed in Catalonia now than at the same time last year, which represents a 11% decrease in comparison to January 2015. The number of unemployed grew in the four regions of Catalonia (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona) but dropped by 11% overall in comparison to January last year.
In the whole of Spain, the number of unemployed in January decreased by 374,936 in comparison to the same month last year, the biggest drop in annual terms since 1999.
More contributors to the Social Security scheme
The number of people contributing to the Social Security System dropped by 1.04% and decreased by 31,989 individuals in comparison to December. This means that, at the end of January, there were 3,038,263 people registered in the Social Security System, 3.51% more than the number of people registered at the end of the same month last year.
Although in Spain as a whole the number of contributors to the Social Security System in January dropped by 1.18% in comparison to the previous month, there were still 17,104,357 people contributing to the Social Security System, an increase of 529,045 in comparison to January 2015.
Unemployment only grew in the services sector
The only growth in the unemployment rate was registered in the services sector, with 3,902 fewer people working in this sector. On the other hand, the number of unemployed in the construction sector decreased by 812 people, there were 318 fewer unemployed in the industry sector and 268 fewer in the agricultural sector. The number of jobseekers who didn’t have a previous job also decreased by 92 people.
More permanent contracts compared to last year
The number of contracts signed in January dropped by 5.91% in comparison to December, which represents 12,753 fewer and totalled 202,894. This drop was mainly due to the end of many seasonal contracts but, on the other hand, the number of permanent contracts increased by 17.67% compared to December.
In annual terms, there were 2,858 fewer contracts signed in January in comparison to the same period last year. Temporary contracts decreased by 2.45% while the number of permanent contracts grew by 5.91%.