The labor market registered in the month of February a growth in employment of 88,918 people, but also an increase in unemployment of 2,618 people and a decrease in hiring, close to 25%, in the interannual rate.
CEPYME recalls that, although it has not yet been a year since the entry into force of the last labor reform, which introduced important changes in hiring, there is an increase in the rotation of indefinite contracts and in the increase in the number of permanent discontinuous, which have tripled compared to the same month of the previous year.
CEPYME highlights that companies are making an enormous effort to maintain employment, as shown by the unemployment data for the month of February, but recalls that the situation is not easy due to the sharp increases in costs of all kinds (supplies, labor , financiers…), which are added to the high indebtedness of companies, which have been dragging on since the pandemic and which condition their profitability and investment capacity.
To these circumstances, legal uncertainty and insecurity must be added, with an excess of regulation and constant announcements of regulatory changes, often contrary to business activity, which not only do not favor productive activity, but also discourage its exercise and the promotion of new investments, which will have repercussions on the labor market.
Affiliation grew 2.4% in February in the interannual rate, reaching a total figure of 20,170,142 affiliates. By sectors, the creation of employment in education (2.48%), construction (2.38%) and hospitality (2%) stands out. On the contrary, employment decreased in health activities (-0.6%), in commerce (-0.5%) and in administrative activities (-0.2%). The agricultural and livestock sector, which is one of the hardest hit by the rise in the minimum wage, lost jobs in a trend that has been maintained for 19 months. In addition, a slowdown in job creation can be seen in the industrial sector, which grew by 1.5% year-on-year, half that of a year earlier.
This slight rebound in job creation, after 9 months of slowdown, is compatible with an increase in unemployment of 2,618 people, which contrasts with the behavior of February 2022, when unemployment fell by more than 11,000 people. In addition, it must be taken into account that discontinuous permanent workers without activity are not counted as unemployed. For this reason, CEPYME considers that caution must be maintained with regard to the evolution of the labor market in the coming months and the possible effects of the slowdown in job creation.
The total number of unemployed is 2,911,015, still very high. In addition, if the unemployed with limited availability, other unemployed unemployed, wage earners in ERTE and discontinuous permanent workers who do not work are added, unemployment could rise to 3.7 million unemployed.
In February, self-employment was destroyed for the second consecutive month, in year-on-year terms, which had not happened since November 2020.