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The latest survey of the Economically Active Population shows how much employment in Malaga depends on tourism
05.02.12 - 12:40 -
The most recent Economically Active Population Survey (EPA) has confirmed what the employment services have been announcing month after month: after the respite in the summer, unemployment is soaring again in the province of Malaga.
The last edition of this quarterly report calculates that at the end of 2011 there were 251,700 people out of work in the province, 13,600 more than at the end of September. This is the second highest figure registered, after the total was up to 258,600 in the first quarter of last year. Malaga is the sixth province with the most unemployment in Spain, with a rate of 31.6 per cent, nine percentage points above the national average.
The rise in the last quarter of 2011 has been put down to two factors: an increase in the active population - more than 9,300 people joined the job market during that period - and 4,200 fewer people in work. The services sector is mainly responsible for the increase in unemployment with some 12,700 jobs destroyed as a consequence of the end of the tourist season.
In fact the number of jobs in other sectors did increase in the final quarter of 2011, with 3,600 more people employed in industry and 5,400 in agriculture (thanks to the olive harvest). The construction sector remained more or less stable with 400 fewer registered workers. Meanwhile, according to the survey 22,100 people in Malaga are searching for their first job, 4,100 more than at the end of September.
However it is thanks to tourism that Malaga has fared better than other Andalusian provinces. Cadiz has the highest unemployment rate in Spain (35.3 per cent), Huelva is also worse off than Malaga, with 34.2 per cent, Almeria has 33.3 per cent and Cordoba 31.7 per cent.
The year 2011 as a whole saw an extra 13,500 people joining the dole queue, that is, the difference between the figure for the end of 2010 and the most recent figures released. The total is high but still lower than the increase of 15,400 registered in 2010 and way below the increase of 37,900 in 2009, indicating a gradual deceleration in the increase in unemployment. What’s more there is a positive side to the figures: the number of people in employment in Malaga actually increased by 5,300 in 2011. In fact the increase in unemployed can be put down solely to the new members of the active population, that is, school leavers, graduates and other newcomers to the market.
Looking back to the start of the crisis gives a clearer picture of what has happened to the Malaga employment market over the last few years. Today there are almost three times as many unemployed as there were four years ago (251,700 compared to the 88,500 at the end of 2007). This is due, not only to the fact that 88,300 jobs have been destroyed (according to the EPA), but also to an increase in the active population of 74,900 people. The vast majority of these new jobseekers are women (65,300 compared to 9,600 men), indicating that many housewives who previously did not consider themselves as unemployed are now actively seeking employment.
Spain reaches five million jobless
Even the word disastrous is not strong enough to describe the EPA results for the end of 2011, these being the figures that best serve to compare Spain to the rest of Europe.
The country’s unemployment rate is now at 22.85 per cent, 2.52 per cent higher than at the end of 2010, with a grand total of 5,273,600 people out of work.
Andalucía has the dubious honour of being the region with the most unemployment, with a total of 1.2 million out of work who make up more than 31 per cent of the active population.
Few doubt that the figures will continue to rise over the next few months. The statistics also show that in Spain there are now 1.5 million households in which all members are out of work.
Spain has the longest dole queue in the eurozone, increasing the pressure on the Government to pass a labour reform bill as soon as possible. Responding to the survey results, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santa María said that the cabinet would be speeding up structural reforms aimed at turning the situation on its head.
