San Sebastián (EFE).- Euskadi surpassed the barrier of one million Social Security contributors in May, with 5,343 more affiliates than in April. Unemployment has fallen for the fourth consecutive month, although to a lesser extent than the previous two.
The million contributor barrier
After several months approaching the threshold of one million affiliates and, although that figure was exceeded in the first fortnight of May, when 1,003,069 registered were counted, the Basque Country closed May with 1,002,586, 1.64% more than the same month of last year.
According to the data provided this Friday by the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security, affiliation in Bizkaia rose 0.40% compared to April, 0.47% in Gipuzkoa and 1.07% in Álava.
The good performance of the labor market has also been evidenced in the registered unemployment figures.
In May there were 726 fewer people signed up for Lanbide in the Basque Country. This is a lower figure than the reduction of 1,191 registered in April and the 3,104 less unemployed in March. The total number of unemployed stands at 107,275, a figure not seen since 2008.
Greater descent in Bizkaia
Bizkaia has been the territory in which the drop has been most pronounced, with a decrease of 0.81%. It has counted 495 fewer unemployed and has placed the total number of unemployed at 60,241.
Gipuzkoa has registered 167 fewer people signed up for Lanbide, 0.59%, up to a total of 28,037. In Álava the drop was 64 people (-0.34%) to 18,991 unemployed.
Unemployment has fallen both among men -449 less unemployed- and among women -277 less-. It has increased by 231 among those under 25 years of age, which amount to a total of 8,343.
By sectors, Services has returned to pull the drop in unemployment, with 836 fewer unemployed. The previously unemployed segment has registered a rise of 334 more unemployed.
The vice-hendakari and Minister of Labor, Idoia Mendia, has highlighted that during this legislature, 64,000 have been created, a figure that she has described as “exceptional” and “against all odds”.
He has argued that this situation is explained because “different things have been done to have different results”, betting “for the public, for the protection of employment from governments”, for social dialogue and with a labor reform that has been successful faster than ever, which is reflected in a new growth in permanent contracts”.
“Good trend”
The ELA, CCOO, UGT and LAB unions have also assessed the figures, considering that unemployment continues to be high, it is still far from the European average, and they highlight that the purchasing power of workers continues to decline.
ELA frames the data in the “good trend” of employment registered in Europe, although it has stressed that “there is still a long way to go to reach the European average”, and has indicated that three out of four contracts signed in May were temporary.
CCOO has remarked, for its part, that the drop in unemployment consolidates the labor reform as a “legislative milestone”. In his opinion, “it increases stable hiring and improves job stability.”
UGT has influenced that the highest unemployment figures are registered in the segments of young people and those over 45 years of age. He has defended the need to “invigorate” employment policies aimed at these sectors.
LAB has specified that behind this decrease in the number of unemployed may be citizens who have retired. Also those who have lost hope of finding work or those who have gone into the underground economy. He has insisted that most economic and social indicators indicate that the situation is deteriorating
