Unemployment in Malaga province almost back to pre-pandemic levels

The labour market in Malaga is looking in better health these days, after two years of the Covid-19 health crisis. The number of unemployed in the province last month was only 1,206 more than in February 2020, just before the pandemic began. There are now 154,692 people registered as unemployed, compared with 153,486 two years ago.

The figures published today by the Ministry of Work also reflect the first notable consequences of labour reform in Malaga. The change in the rules was aimed at reducing temporary employment and the statistics for February show that nearly 20 per cent of new contracts signed in the province were permanent. These were 10,490 of the 53,512 indefinite contracts in total, and shows an increase of 46.63 per cent compared with last year.

Malaga has had the biggest drop in unemployment in Andalucía for the second consecutive month, and its annual reduction is above the national average. In the past year 49,601 people in Malaga have come off the register of unemployed, a year-on-year drop of 24.28 per cent compared with 22.38 per cent in Spain as a whole.

The latest figures do, however, show that the gender gap is still very evident, as nearly six out of ten people who are unemployed in the province at present are women: 92,252 compared with 62,440 men.

People over the age of 44 are the largest group of unemployed in Malaga, as they accounted for 5,794 of the total registered and find it most difficult to obtain work.

Nationally, unemployment dropped by 11,394 last month compared with January, which was a decrease of 0.36 per cent. In Spain, 3,111,684 are currently registered as unemployed, according to the figures from the Ministry of Work.