Unemployment drops to lowest level in years

In April, registered unemployment fell by 13,868 in Catalonia, leaving the total number of unemployed at 486,123. This is the lowest figure since February 2009. According to data published yesterday by the Spanish ministry of employment and social security, this represented a drop of 2.8% with respect to March. This means on annual data, the drop in the last year has been 12.1%

Catalonia recorded the second largest fall in Spain, after the Balearic Islands. State-wide, unemployment fell by 83,599 people in April, a decrease of 2.04% compared to March and 7.43% for the year.

The Generalitat's secretary of labour, Josep Ginesta, yesterday said the unemployment data was “positive” and emphasised that this is the lowest figure in the last seven years. However, Ginesta also admitted that much remains to be done in terms of the quality of employment “compared with 2009, there are now fewer people with permanent contracts.”

Services led the decline and also showing a strong improvement was the construction sector, but in the last year, construction has outdone both services and manufacturing.

Employers also made a positive assessment of the unemployment data and asked that the incoming government keep the labour reform.