CEPYME warns of a slowdown in employment that reflects the rise in costs suffered by companies

2023-04-27 14:23:47

Although employment and unemployment improve in year-on-year terms, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA) corresponding to the first quarter of the year, the number of employed has fallen by 11,100 people and the number of unemployed has risen by 103,800 people compared to the last quarter of 2022.

CEPYME considers that this quarterly drop in employment is related to the rise in costs suffered by companies, not only in terms of inflation or cost of financing, but also derived from the increases in social contributions and the increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI). . On the other hand, the effect of the economic slowdown is also noticeable.

Construction and agriculture, branches especially affected by the rise in costs, lose jobs in quarterly terms. Agriculture, one of the sectors that is most affected by the increases in supplies, SMI and prices, the drought and the effect of the discontinuous fixed ones, loses 5,000 workers in quarterly terms and drags a decrease in employment of 79,500 people in the last twelve months.

This drift in agricultural employment had already been announced by recent data, such as the fact that, at the end of February, the number of micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 workers fell by 3.8% in agriculture.

The self-employed present a quarterly improvement of 12,100 employed and contrasts with the falls registered in the Social Security affiliation data. However, the data from the EPA confirm a negative trend in the number of self-employed workers on an annual basis, which is 43,300.

On the other hand, CEPYME shows its concern about the gap that is being drawn between jobs with different qualifications. The loss of low-skilled jobs of 53,100 occupied quarterly and 30,300 in year-on-year terms can be attributed to the negative effect of the rise in the SMI in jobs that mostly move in that salary range.

CEPYME forecasts point to a second quarter in which the moderate pace of job creation will be maintained. However, the rise of discontinuous permanent workers continues to alter the statistical comparison by not counting as unemployed in the public records during the times that they are not claimed by the company to work.