NEWS
67 per cent of the most recently unemployed in Andalucía are in Malaga, where the figure has risen to a record high of 194,804
09.12.11 - 17:31 -
Of every ten people who lost their job last month in Andalucía, seven are from Malaga province. With 5,557 more people now looking for work, the province is at the top of the list of rising unemployment not only at a regional level but also in Spain as a whole.
This situation shows little sign of easing, and last month was the worst November for job losses for the past three years. Figures released last week show that the total number of unemployed people in the province has reached a record level: 194,804, dangerously close to the 200,000 level and almost double the figure in January 2008.
The services sector showed a temporary recovery during the peak tourist season but now summer has ended the same sector is mainly responsible for the most recent pronounced rise in unemployment. Since August, 20,823 people in the province have lost their job and 70 per cent of these had been working in the services sector.
All sectors have reported negative figures for November, with the exception of agriculture. The services sector topped the list with 4,471 more unemployed, 80 per cent of the total.
This was followed by the construction sector, with 477 more unemployed; the group who had not been in work before, with 473, and industry, with 172. In agriculture the number went down, although this is certainly a temporary blip, with 36 fewer people registered as looking for work.
Worse for women
Female workers have been hit particularly hard by unemployment recently. 54 per cent of people from Malaga who joined the unemployment queues in November were women.
The balance of the past year shows an increase of 10,925 unemployed in Malaga province, which is a rise of 5.94 per cent. This increase is considerable but is lower than that registered between November 2009 and the same month in 2010, which was 8.67 per cent. Unemployment rose in all sectors, although services was hardest hit with 6,882 more people (6.6 per cent) losing their jobs. The next highest increase was in the group of people who had not worked before, at 2,018 (8.6 per cent), construction with 772 (1.8 per cent), industry with 637 (5.5 per cent) and agriculture and fishing with 616 (22.2 per cent).
The lack of signs that unemployment will drop in the near future is causing huge concern. The provincial secretary of the Comisiones Obreras union, Antonio Herrera, said last week that November was “the fourth consecutive month in which unemployment went up, and the changing trends in inter-annual terms are considerably accelerating the loss of jobs in our province”.
The president of the Confederation of Businesses of Malaga, Javier González de Lara, claims that the latest increase in November “reflects the urgent need to prioritise measures which aim to generate and maintain employment in our country, because the delicate situation in which families, small and medium sized business and the self-employed find themselves is insupportable”.
With regard to new jobs, 47,033 new work contracts were signed in Malaga province in November, which was 7.4 per cent fewer than October but higher than the 6.4 per cent in November 2010. However, the majority were for temporary work and only 4.6 per cent were permanent.
The CCOO union is not optimistic about the Christmas season. “Not many new jobs will be created this year, because employers will just make existing staff work harder”, says Antonio Herrera.
