Santander (EFE) community at 25,300.
With this figure, the unemployment rate in Cantabria at the end of March was 9.29%, the third lowest in the country, whose average is 13.26%, according to the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday by the National Statistics Institute.
The Cantabrian Government has defended that employment “is working” with Cantabria “leader” in its growth in Spain, the unions have “a bittersweet feeling” and warn of a reduction in the salaried population and the PP makes the year-on-year job creation ugly of the autonomous community is lower than the Spanish average.
In Spain as a whole, the number of unemployed rose by 103,800 people in the first quarter of the year, 3.43 percent, to 3.1 million, while the number of employed decreased by 11,100, leaving the total at 20.4 million.
Cantabria gained 2,800 employees, 1.13% more -the third highest increase- which brings the total to 246,700.
Of those 246,700 employed persons collected by the EPA for the first quarter, 132,800 are men and 113,900 are women, which represents activity rates of 58.8 and 49.8%, respectively.
In the case of the 25,300 unemployed, 10,200 are men and 15,100 are women, with unemployment rates at 7.1 and 11.7%.
In Cantabria, according to the EPA, there are 272,000 assets, one hundred less than at the end of 2022, -0.03%, but 500 more than a year ago, an increase of 0.2%.
In addition, there are 501,800 people over the age of 16, 300 more than in the previous quarter, and 2,000 more than in the same period of 2022.
By autonomous communities, the largest quarterly drops in unemployment occurred in Andalusia, with (-19,100), Comunidad de Madrid (-16,200) and Asturias (-6,700); and the greatest increases were in the Balearic Islands, with 48,000 more unemployed; Canary Islands, with 33,500; and Catalonia, with 20,000.
In relative terms, the Communities with the greatest quarterly increase in employment were Andalusia, with 2.03%; Aragon, with 1.24%; and Cantabria, with 1.13%.
THE THIRD LOWEST YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
The youth unemployment rate in Cantabria stood at 24.07 percent in the first quarter, the fourth lowest in Spain and almost six points below the national average (30.03%). According to the Active Population Survey (EPA) published this Thursday, youth unemployment has dropped in Cantabria by almost two and a half points compared to the last quarter of 2022, when it was at 26.56%.
REACTIONS
The president of Cantabria, Miguel Ángel Revilla, has assessed this Thursday the “extraordinary” data from the EPA for the region, where he has claimed that employment “is working” and has assured that “expectations are even better”, while the Vice President, Pablo Zualaga, has shown the regional government’s satisfaction that the region “leads” the growth of employment in Spain.
The CCOO union has indicated that the data leaves a “bittersweet feeling” in Cantabria because it mixes positive figures, such as the drop in unemployment, with other negative ones, such as the drop in the number of salaried people.
UGT has linked the drop in unemployment in the first quarter of the year in Cantabria to a “significant increase” in the self-employed, which contrasts with “a loss of salaried population”, especially among women, while USO sees “positive” the general data, but shows concern about the reduction in the registered activity rate.
The autonomous secretary of the PP in Cantabria, María José González Revuelta, has criticized that the year-on-year job creation in the autonomous community is lower than the Spanish average.