Madrid, May 4 (EFE).- The Madrid government and businessmen in the region have highlighted the drop in unemployment in April, which they attribute to the work of the self-employed and businessmen, while the unions and the opposition attribute the good unemployment data for the purposes of the 2021 labor reform.
According to the data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, the number of unemployed registered in the Public Employment Services in the Community of Madrid fell in April compared to March by 6,215 people, 1.97% less, up to 308,767 unemployed.
In annual terms, compared to April 2022 there are 19,525 fewer unemployed in Madrid, which represents a year-on-year decrease of 5.95%.
Shortly after these data became known, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, wrote on the social network Twitter that “there have never been as many people working in Madrid as now” and stresses that “despite the difficulties, self-employed and businessmen have created 360,000 jobs and there are 34,000 fewer people unemployed since we arrived”.
The socialist candidate for the Madrid City Council, Reyes Maroto, has also spoken about the strike, and has highlighted the “extraordinary results” of the Labor Reform in employment in Spain and Madrid “despite the catastrophizing” of the PP and Vox, parties that ” They voted against its approval.
The employers of the Madrid Business Confederation-CEOE (CEIM) employers say in a note that the unemployment data referring to the Community of Madrid reflect “more permanent hiring than the national average (8 points above), more affiliation at the year-on-year level (4.2% compared to 3%)”, and that it is the province where unemployment in Spain has fallen the most in April, and that “corresponds to a recovery of regional pre-pandemic GDP, already since the previous quarter”.
“It is clear that the fiscal policy favorable to savings and investment, the greater space for business freedom and a responsible Administration that is close to economic activity translate into more employment opportunities,” says the CEIM.
Madrid businessmen also say that “none of the measures implemented by the National Government is designed with the aim of promoting work productivity; rather, they tend to interfere in labor relations, even in collective bargaining, make job creation more expensive and penalize workers with higher contributions, without deflating the tax on earned income”.
On the part of the unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) says that the reduction in unemployment by 1.97% compared to April, in 6,215 workers, “means that Madrid occupies the fourth worst registered unemployment data, compared to the rest of the autonomies ”.
According to this union, in a historical analysis it can be seen that Spain and Madrid “reached registered unemployment figures for the first time since the pandemic prior to the 2008 crisis (in October 2008 in Madrid there were 315,199 unemployed people), which “is This is achieved with a higher quality of employment, since permanent contracts are greater now than in 2008 thanks to the labor reform in force since 2022, the result of the agreement of the social agents, the Government and with the approval of the general courts”.
CCOO says in a press release that “the challenge is to continue reducing unemployment to the best figures of that stage prior to the financial crisis and that this is done with quality employment, both in improving stability that is now achieving working conditions (better wages and types of working hours), and equality for female employment”.
The UGT union affirms that the drop in unemployment in Madrid is due “fundamentally to the boost in hiring derived from Easter Week and the May bank holiday” and also highlights that “the labor reform continues to bear fruit, creating 53% of stable hiring and of quality”.
UGT considers that there are pending aspects of “reversing” in the labor market taking into account that female unemployment continues to be at 60%, that one in three contracts in Madrid is part-time and 2 out of 10 contracts have a duration less than a month.
And he adds that “the active employment policies of the Government of the Community must be adjusted to the needs” of citizens, and that it is necessary “to activate social dialogue, which has proven to be positive at state level, and use European funds to improve the labor market, investing in the development of sectors with high added value”, such as industry, green employment, circular economy and Research, development and innovation (R+D+i).
The entry Unemployment fell 1.97% in April in Madrid, which added 15,280 affiliates, was first published in EFE Noticias.