Social Security has added 510,000 jobs since the beginning of the year, with record levels of women contributors

This is the highest level in the series and one of the best performances for a January-November period. Compared to October, the increase is 10,350 contributors.

The average number of contributors stood at 20,806,074, the highest ever figure for the month of November. In the daily series, contributors remained above 20.8 million workers continuously between 15 and 29 November. Compared to October, there were 11,583 fewer, a much smaller decrease than in this month between 2016 and 2019 (-36,000 on average). The year-on-year variation in contributors was 2.6%, with 522,443 more people than a year ago.

The average number of women contributors remains at record levels, at more than 9.8 million. This figure represents 47.2% of all workers and remains at an all-time high.

"The labour market shows remarkable dynamism throughout 2023, with a further increase in employment in November. The good performance of national insurance contributors among women stands out", said the Minister for Social Security, Inclusion and Migration, Elma Saiz. "Thanks to the labour reform, Spain is intensively improving the quality and stability of jobs, with a strong reduction in temporary employment - especially among young people - and a good performance in high value-added activities," she added.

Higher employment growth than other major economies

Compared to pre-pandemic levels (February 2019), affiliation has grown by almost 1.4 million in seasonally adjusted terms. Since February 2020, 7 out of 10 new jobs have been in the private sector.

Moreover, compared to pre-pandemic levels, job creation in Spain (+7.2%) outpaced that of the major European countries (France, +5%; Germany, +1.4%). Employment growth is also higher than in these countries since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with Spain growing by 5.3%, whereas France and Germany grew less than 2%.

New all-time record for female employment

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, female employment is also particularly buoyant, growing 3 points more than that of men in the January-November average. In year-on-year terms, female affiliation grew 3.06%, some 0.9 points more than that of men and, as a result, there are more than 9.8 million women in work.

Employment growth compared to the pre-pandemic level is especially notable in high value-added sectors, such as Information Technology and Telecommunications, where the number of employees has grown by 24.8% compared to before the pandemic, and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, which grew by 15.5%. Since the end of the pandemic, one in five new contributors (almost 308,000 in absolute terms) has joined these highly productive sectors.

More than 3.1 million new permanent contributors and a low number of temporary contracts

Twenty-two months after the entry into force of the labour reform, its positive effects on stabilising employment and improving its quality can be clearly seen. Overall, there are now 3.1 million more (3,131,388) contributors on permanent contracts now than in December 2021, the last month before the reform came into force.

Moreover, in November, the percentage of those with permanent contracts stood at 87%, a record high, up 17 points since the labour reform. Thus, the temporary employment rate is at a low (13%). In the case of those under 30 years of age, the reduction in the temporary employment level is more intense, dropping by 32 percentage points (from 53% to 21%) compared to its pre-reform level.

Furthermore, the number of workers on ERTEs (temporary regulation of employment) remains at minimum levels, at around 11,000 people, 0.1% of all contributors.

Notable improvement in social security revenues

The strong dynamism of the labour market and the increased quality of employment is helping to strengthen the sustainability of the pension system, with revenues from social security contributions growing by 10% up to October (the last month for which data are available). Discounting the revenue effect of the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (IEM), which started to be applied in January 2023, contributions are growing at a rate of 8.1%. Last, the improvement in employment brings the ratio of contributors to pensioners to 2.41, at a decade high.

Non official translation