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Unemployment has risen in Malaga province in October, with seasonal tourism being blamed, new figures show. The closure of hotels, beach bars and other tourism-dependent businesses resulted in thousands of workers losing their jobs, however some, thanks to permanent contracts, do not add to the unemployment queue, although they do stop paying Social Security contributions.
Malaga registered 2,274 people who lost their jobs in October, making it the province with the highest rise in unemployment in the country. It is followed by Cadiz (+1,916) and Toledo (+1,688), according to the statistics.
Malaga is once again very close to breaking the 120,000 threshold, which it managed to lower last June. In October, Malaga province registered 119,906 people as job seekers. However, this increase has been slight in comparison with the historical average for October in Malaga. In the past two decades there is only one year in which unemployment statistics were better in this month: 2022, when there was an exceptional drop of 541 unemployed due to the Covid-19 crisis.
September also saw the lowest increase in unemployment recorded in Malaga province since 2007. The figures show that so far, the province is experiencing a mild autumn as far as employment is concerned.
Malaga lost 1,616 Social Security contributors compared with September, the figures show, bringing the total to 725,181, a figure that is still an all-time record for October. Malaga is not the worst-placed province in Spain or Andalucía in this respect: within the region it is exceeded by Cadiz, which lost 4,547 contributors, and nationally, by many other provinces, headed by the Balearic Islands, which lost almost 35,000.
Across Spain, employment figures were positive, with 134,307 new contributors. This was also the case in Andalucía, with an increase of 26,696 employed people.
The rise in unemployment in October in Malaga is mainly confined to two groups: the services sector, with 1,991 more unemployed, and the unemployed without previous employment, with 486 more. Industry also saw a rise, but slightly, with 81 more unemployed. Figures dropped in construction (-232) and agriculture (-52).
From a year-on-year perspective, the balance continues to be positive for the Malaga labour market: Malaga has 12,121 fewer unemployed than a year ago (-9.18%) and 26,213 more workers (+3.75%).
In view of the data, the UGT (general union of workers) pointed out the effects of seasonal tourism and demanded "policies that promote the diversity of employment in other productive sectors, so that Malaga does not remain anchored as a province that only lives from tourism".
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