Alex Trelinski
SPAIN has recorded its lowest registered unemployed total for May since 2008, with 2.6 million people out of work.
The total is a 59,000 reduction on April, as seasonal jobs become available related to the tourist sector.
The monthly fall is higher than a year ago when it dropped by over 49,000 but is much smaller than in the middle of the previous decade when May reductions topped 100,000.
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One of the main reasons for that is Spain was recovering from historically-high jobless figures caused by the recession.
The country saw 220,289 new jobs created last month and the third-best May for job creation this century, following 2017 and 2018.
A record number of people-21.32 million- are now registered with Social Security as being employed with women passing the 10 million mark for the first time.
Over a third of new jobs are in the hospitality industry ahead of what is expected to be a record summer tourist season.
Other sectors saw employment increases in agriculture (+18,889), industry (+9,891) and construction (+7,206).
Compared to May 2023, Spain has 506,395 more Social Security affiliates.
The Balearic Islands, which bases most of its economy on tourism, gained 9.3% workers in May- well above the national average of 1%.
Other high-gaining regions were Aragon (2.3%), La Rioja (1.9%) and Castilla-La Mancha (1.5%).
Despite the positive trends, Spain’s jobless rate of 11.7% is still double the European Union average.
