Number of people in work on verge of 19 million at close of 2017 after year-on-year rise of 490,300

Unemployment fell by 471,100 people and the unemployment rate stands at 16.55%, with a fall of 2.09 points over the last year. The percentage of unemployed out of the active population has fallen by more than 10 points since the worst period of the recession and stands at its lowest level since it started in a fourth quarter. Most of the jobs created in last year are full-time jobs, are permanent employment contracts and are focused in the private sector.

These figures correspond to the EPA for the fourth quarter of 2017, the results of which are conditioned, as usual, by seasonal factors. Compared with the third quarter, employment has fallen by 50,900 people (down 0.27%) and the number of unemployed has risen by 34,900 (up 0.94%). The unemployment rate has risen slightly, by 0.16%, to stand at 16.55% of the active population.

Salaried workers with a permanent employment contract have risen by 118,800 in the quarter, while those on a temporary employment contract have fallen by 102,900. Jobs have been created in the quarter in the public sector (up 12,700), while they have fallen in the private sector (down 63,500). Full-time employment also fell (down 130,400) compared with a rise in part-time jobs (up 79,600).

The annual figure, that is, compared with the fourth quarter of 2016, does not include this seasonal factor and hence offers a better perspective. 2017 is the fourth straight year of job creation, at an annual rate of around half a million jobs. At the close of last year, there were 490,300 more jobs than in the last quarter of 2016. In total, 18.99 million people were in work in Spain on that date, a figure still below the government's target of 20 million people in work by the end of this term of office. Jobs were created at a rate of 2.65% last year, which means that largest part of the economic growth translates to new jobs.

Most of these new jobs are permanent in the year as a whole. As regards the total number of salaried workers, permanent employment contracts rose by 357,900, compared with 179,200 temporary employment contracts. The rate of temporary work stood at 26.71%, 0.23% higher than the previous year. Compared with highs in the temporary work rate of 35% prior to the crisis, almost 75% of salaried workers in Spain now have a permanent employment contract.

All jobs created over the last 12 months have been full-time (517,900) while 27,600 part-time jobs have been shed. The rate of part-time work is low in Spain, and stands at 14.77% of the total. Most jobs have been created in the private sector (401,700), almost five times the figure for the public sector (88,700).

Unemployment has also enjoyed four straight years of decline, falling by 471,100 in the last quarter of 2017 on the figure for the previous year, down 11.12%. The total number of unemployment has thus dropped to 3,766,700, the second lowest figure since the first quarter of 2009. The unemployment rate has fallen by 2.09 points in the last year to stand at 16.55%, and a little over 10 points since it reached its highest point in the crisis (first quarter of 2013) and this is the best figure for a fourth quarter of the year since the recession.

The number of households with all their active members in work has dropped to 1,210,500, falling by 177,200 over the last year, while those with all their active members in work have risen by 331,300 to stand at 10,215,000.

Non official translation