news
The rate in the province of Malaga reached 30.28 per cent in the third quarter of 2011, ten per cent above the national average
03.11.11 - 10:55 -
People queue outside an employment office.
At the end of June there was some good news. The start of the peak tourism season had managed to reduce unemployment in the province of Malaga after a peak at the beginning of this year. The EPA figures (Economically Active Population Survey) for the period of July to September, however, are again negative, with an extra 5,600 people joining the unemployment lists taking the total up to 238,100.
Malaga has gone into autumn with an unemployment rate of more than 30 per cent of the active population, 0.17 per cent more than the previous quarter, and ten percentage points above the national average, currently at 21.52 per cent. The current rate for Malaga province is the highest for the third quarter for 16 years. In the same period of 1995 the rate was 36.57% although the total figure back then was 174,500.
Education
While having higher academic qualifications is by no means a guarantee of finding a job in this economic crisis, the latest figures show that unemployment is higher among those with fewer qualifications. Of the total number of unemployed workers in the province of Malaga in September, 84 per cent have no further or higher education.
Among them 14 per cent have no academic qualification whatsoever, 33 per cent obtained their primary school certificate but did not complete the Obligatory Secondary Education (ESO) and 37 per cent went no further than secondary school. The remaining 16 per cent of job seekers have a university degree or FP (professional training) qualification.
The relationship between unemployment and education is heightened even further among the long-term unemployed. Of the nearly 42,000 people in the province who have been out of work for more than two years, 15 per cent have no record of studies, and another 72 per cent went no further than compulsory education.
The fact that the crisis has affected workers with no qualification more than any others is confirmed by examining the ten professions suffering most from job cuts. All of them require few or no qualifications, such as hotel cleaners, construction labourers, shop assistants, administrative assistants, factory workers, cooks, waiters or gardeners.
Construction
The construction sector is the most affected by unemployment with 23 per cent of job seekers connected with the industry, either as labourers, carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians or even architects. It is precisely in the construction sector where we can find the key to the low level of qualifications among the unemployed, as many youngsters dropped out of the education system when unskilled labour was in great demand during the construction boom.
Experts point out that the time when it was easy to find work with no studies is unlikely to return and stress the importance of unemployed youngsters seeking qualifications. They are also concerned by the growing number of young people among the lists of long-term unemployed, whose ranks were previously occupied by a majority of older workers. The majority of the unemployed in the province of Malaga are under 30 or over 45.
