Recorded unemployment rises by 56,844 people in October

This means that total recorded unemployment now stands at 3,467,026, and continues to remain at the lowest level for the last eight years. In seasonally-adjusted terms, recorded unemployment fell yet again in October, by 23,690 people.

Over the last 12 months, unemployment has fallen by 297,956 people, thus maintaining the strong pace of the annual reduction for another month, which now stands at 7.91%. During the first 10 months of 2017, unemployment has fallen by 235,948 people.

Recorded unemployment rose in 15 autonomous regions, headed up by Catalonia (14,698) and Andalusia (12,971). It fell in the other two regions: the Basque Country (down 1,990) and the Region of Valencia (down 1,858).

By sector of economic activity, recorded unemployment fell in the construction sector by 5,190 and among first-time job-seekers, by 173. In contrast, it rose in the agriculture sector, by 9,194, in the industrial sector, by 2,028 and in the services sector, by 50,985.

Number of permanent contracts rises by 21.41%

The number of contracts registered in the month of October amounted to a total of 2,032,184. This represents an increase of 164,824 (up 8.83%) on the same month in 2016.

A total of 202,542 permanent employment contracts were recorded in October 2017. This represents an increase of 21.41% on the same month last year, and is the best figure since the start of the recovery of employment. Moreover, this percentage is three times higher than the rate of temporary employment (7.6%). 45 straight months of increases in stable hiring have now been posted.

There was a noteworthy rise of 21.2% in permanent employment contracts for the under-25s in the first 10 months of 2017, compared with the same period last year.

Full-time permanent unemployment contracts in October 2017 rose by 21,435, up almost 24% (23.94%) on the figure posted in October 2016, while the rise in temporary employment contracts rose by 7.6%.

In this regard, the State Secretary for Employment, Juan Pablo Riesgo, recalled that, according to the Labour Force Survey (Spanish acronym: EPA), 73% of salaried workers, representing three quarters, have a permanent employment contract.

Non official translation