No words can properly describe the magnitude of the unemployment problem in Malaga province. It has been referred to in such terms as dramatic, devastating, galloping and terrible and, not infrequently, insupportable.

One third of the active population of Malaga is now registered as unemployed, according to figures released last week by the Survey of the Active Population (EPA). To be exact, the figure at the end of March was 32.73 per cent, compared with 30.65 per cent three months earlier. This means that at the end of the first quarter of this year 258,600 people in Malaga - almost 20 per cent of the total population over the age of 16 - had no work, while 531,500 were lucky enough to have kept their jobs.

Malaga province has the second highest unemployment rate in Spain, not far behind that of Halve, where the rate is 32.9 per cent. The national average is more than ten points lower, at 21.94 per cent. The number of people who are unemployed continues to close in on the number of those in work. In fact, a report drawn up by the National Statistics Institute shows that between the last quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of this year, 7,400 people in Malaga province lost their jobs (3.1 per cent more than those who already had no work), while the list of people who are looking for a job rose by 20,400. The difference between the two figures is due to the growth of the active population. In the first three months of the year, 13,000 people joined the labor market, directly lengthening the lists of the unemployed.

This means that most of the increase in unemployment in the province in the first three months of the year was due to the incorporation of people who are actively seeking work. This is a trend which is reflected in the latest statistics of the State Public Service for Employment, and it is contrary to that registered at national level. Looking back further, to 12 months ago, the unemployment rate has risen in the province by almost three points, from 30.02 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 to 32.73 per cent at the end of March. At that time, there were 11,900 fewer people in work and 25,500 more people out of work than a year previously and the active population grew by 13,600. The number of people in Malaga who say they are looking for their first job went up from 13,500 to 18,100. But the brutal growth in unemployment originated by the economic crisis is shown in even sharper terms if we look at the unemployment rates in years such as 2005 or 2006: they were below 13 per cent, which is less than half of the present rate.

Women

During the last few months, the rise in unemployment in Malaga has greatly affected women and this is reflected in the EPA statistics. Unemployment among women went up to 33.89 per cent, and the increase in the first quarter of this year was particularly high: almost four percentage points. On the other hand, unemployment among men was 31.82 per cent of the active male population at the end of March. However, in absolute terms more men are unemployed - 140,400 compared with 118,200 women - because they form the majority in the labour market. Although 67.5 per cent of men over the age of 16 are in work, only 52.2 per cent of women have jobs.

Not all bad news

Despite the devastating overall statistics, figures just published for the month of April are surprisingly positive. Contracts issued in the Services sector were the main reason that 6,024 unemployed people found work last month and this is the greatest fall in unemployment in the province since 1996. It is also the biggest drop in Spain.

The number of unemployed people in Málaga province is now registered at 185,233, having fallen from 191,257 at the end of March. This drop has certainly had a braking effect on the inter-annual increase in the jobless, but it cannot be forgotten that the province still has 10,213 more people looking for work now than at the same time last year.

The provincial Delegate for Employment, Juan Carlos Lomeña, says the figures for April show that the labour market is beginning to recover, especially as unemployment dropped in all sectors except Agriculture last month and the reduction at Easter last year was much lower.

Unions, however, view things differently. Antonio Herrera, the provincial secretary of Comisiones Obreras, says the new contracts were directly related to Easter and his counterpart in the UGT, Manuel Ferrer, insists that unemployment is still so high that it proves that the Government's labour reforms are not working. The next few months are vital to see whether this is a trend towards lower unemployment or a temporary improvement related to Easter.

Companies

Temporary contracts issued by Malaga companies in April have brought some relief to the province’s unemployment problem but they also highlight the fact that so many jobs are of short-term duration. Of the 41,902 new jobs filled, 39,053 are for fixed periods and only 2,849 are indefinite. All the growth corresponds to temporary contracts as the number of indefinite ones continues to fall, by 13% compared with March and 7.5% inter-annually.

Andalucía

The number of unemployed in Andalucía almost reached 1.2 million in the first quarter of the year, totalling 1,187,600 after an increase of 60,200 between January and March. This means that 29.68 per cent of the active population was unemployed, the highest rate in the past thirteen years.

According to data from the Survey of the Active Population (EPA), in the 12 months to the end of March unemployment rose in Andalucía by 106,700, or 9.87 per cent, and the number of homes in which everyone is out of work rose to 367,800, which is 18,300 more than in the previous quarter.

The number of occupied jobs fell by 35,300 in the first quarter of 2011 (1.24 per cent) and in one year 77,400 jobs were lost (2.68 per cent). The active population of the region rose by 24,800 (0.62 per cent) between January and March to reach 4,001,300 and the inter-annual rate went up by 29,200 (0.7 per cent).

Figures just released for April are more positive, however. They show that unemployment in Andalucía dropped by 2 per cent compared with March, to a total of 932,107. This reduction of 19,518 was the greatest in Spain in absolute terms. The decrease occurred in all sectors and in all provinces apart from Jaén, where it rose by 178.

Despite the improved figures for April, the president of the Partido Popular in Andalucía, Javier Arenas, is unlikely to change his belief that the region is in a situation of "social emergency" and "economic tragedy". He insists that a change of government is urgently needed in order to overcome the economic crisis.