Malaga province escapes unemployment rise despite expiry of summer contracts
Social security registrations do show a drop, although at a lower rate than across Spain
Malaga escaped the rise in unemployment of August - a month that is usually unfavourable for the labour market throughout the country and in particular in coastal areas due to the end of many summer contracts. The number of unemployed people in the province fell by 136 last month, which is only 0.12%, but enough to avoid the increase that did occur in Spain as a whole (the national figure rose by 21,905, to 2,426,511 unemployed). Within Andalucía, the number of unemployed only fell in Almeria (66 fewer, to 43,537) and in Huelva (249 fewer, to 30,588). In the region as a whole, however, unemployment rose by 1,756 persons, the bulk of which was in Seville (1,147 more unemployed, to 146,339).
The trend in social security enrolment, however, was impacted by the end of the summer. The number of contributors fell by 1,704 people (or 0.22%), to 757,244. Within Andalucía, the number of contributors only increased in Cadiz (896, or 0.2%, to 447,864). Meanwhile, the average reduction in the region was 0.5%, to 3,475,401. In Spain as a whole, almost 200,000 jobs were lost, 0.91% of the total, although the figure remains above 21.6 million.
But, just as the number of unemployed fell by 7,613 people (or 6.54%) in Malaga compared to the number a year ago, the number of people registered with social security in August this year grew by 23,514 (or 3.2%) compared to the same time last year. In both cases, these numbers beat those in Spain as a whole: the growth in employment at national level is 2.25% (or 476,801 workers), while the drop in unemployment in the country is 5.66% (or 145,610 unemployed).
As for the number of unemployed by economic activity, the services sector accounts for the bulk in the province of Malaga (78,144), followed by those with no known previous employment (12,149) and construction workers (11,411). Meanwhile, there are 4,688 and 2,337 unemployed in industry and agriculture, respectively. This is August in short, but how have the numbers evolved in the last 30 days? The total number of unemployed has fallen mainly within the group of people without previous employment (381 fewer unemployed), while in agriculture and in services the decreases were of 47 and 22 people, respectively. On the other hand, unemployment rose in industry (68 more unemployed) and in construction (246).
To put the above figures in context, in Andalucía as a whole, unemployment only fell in agriculture and among workers without previous employment, which did not offset the rise in the other sectors. A similar thing is happening in Spain as a whole.
By sex, unemployment continues to weigh more heavily on women than on men in the province. In August, the number of unemployed women was 66,182, compared to 42,547 unemployed men.
In terms of hiring, a total of 40,420 contracts were signed in the province in August, which represents a decrease of almost 33% compared to a month earlier, although compared to August 2024, there is an increase of 0.77%. Of these contracts, 17,542 were permanent - 34.3% fewer than in July and also 1.34% fewer than in the same month last year. Temporary contracts in August were 2.44% more (22,878) than in the same period of 2024.
In the year to date, 377,716 contracts have been signed in Malaga province, 52.81% of which are temporary. Meanwhile, in Spain as a whole, more than ten million contracts have been signed this year, of which almost 59% are temporary.
