He number of stops registered in the offices of public employment services fell by 33,405 people in March in relation to the previous month, which represents a decrease of 1.2% in percentage terms, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.
After the decline in March, driven above all by the services sector and the fall in female unemployment, the total number of unemployed stood at 2,727,003 unemployedthe lowest level for a month of March since 2008, the Ministry has stressed.
The drop in unemployment in March of this year is lower than the decline experienced by unemployment in the same month of 2023when it decreased by 48,755 people, but it is above the decrease recorded in 2022 (-2,921 unemployed), when the war broke out in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the comparable historical series in 1996, unemployment has fallen in March 24 times and has risen 5 times. The largest increase this month, of 302,365 unemployed, was recorded in 2020at the beginning of the pandemic, while the greatest decrease was in 2002, with 66,804 fewer unemployed.
In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment increased in the third month of 2024 by 11,900 people.
In the last year, unemployment accumulated a decrease of 135,257 unemployed, which represents 4.7% less, with a decline in female unemployment of 85,766 women (-5%) and a fall in male unemployment of 49,491 men (-4. 3%).
Unemployment falls more among women and in services
Unemployment fell in March in all economic sectors, except in the group without previous employment, where it increased by 1,779 people (+0.7%). The largest monthly decrease was recorded by serviceswith 31,294 fewer unemployed (-1.6%), followed by industry, which left 2,055 unemployed (-0.9%); agriculture, where unemployment decreased by 1,502 people (-1.5%), and construction, with 333 fewer unemployed (-0.1%).
Unemployment fell in March in both sexes, although somewhat more among women. Specifically, female unemployment fell by 23,009 women compared to the previous month (-1.4%), compared to a drop in male unemployment of 10,396 men (-0.9%).
Thus, at the end of the third month of 2024, the total number of unemployed stood at 1,632,557 womenwhile that of men totaled 1,094,446 unemployed.
By age, Unemployment among young people under 25 years of age decreased by 1.3% in Marchwith 2,748 fewer unemployed than at the end of February, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over fell by 30,657 unemployed (-1.2%).
After the decline in March, the total number of unemployed under 25 years of age fell to a total of 205,007 unemployedits lowest figure in a month of March in the historical series.
Unemployment drops in 15 communities
Registered unemployment fell in March in 15 autonomous communities and rose in the Basque Country and Madrid, with 926 and 701 more unemployed, respectively. The largest monthly decreases, on the other hand, were recorded in Andalusia (-11,374 unemployed), the Canary Islands (-4,686 unemployed) and the Valencian Community (-3,998).
As for the provincesunemployment fell back in 46 of themled by Málaga (-3,095 unemployed), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (-2,456) and Seville (-2,289), and rose by six, mainly in Madrid (+701 unemployed), Guipúzcoa (+534 unemployed) and Vizcaya (+427 ).
The registered unemployment among foreigners unemployed fell by 4,807 compared to the previous month (-1.3%), bringing the total number of unemployed immigrants to 366,441, which represents 6,474 fewer unemployed than a year before (-1.7%).
Permanent hiring drops 18% year-on-year
Despite the celebration of Holy Weekwhich last year was held in April, in March of this year 1,123,488 contracts were registered, a 14.6% less than in the same month of 2023.
Of all of them, 504,893 were permanent contracts, a figure 18% lower than a year before. In total, 44.94% of the contracts made in March were indefinite, a percentage slightly lower than that registered in February, when the proportion of permanent contracts was 46%.
Among the indefinite ones, in March there were 222,515 full-time contracts, 21.7% less than in the same month last year; 158,271 fixed-discontinuous contracts (-12.5% year-on-year) and 124,107 permanent part-time contracts (-17.6%).
Of all the contracts signed in March, 618,595 were temporary contracts11.5% less than in the same month of 2023 and the lowest figure since 1997. In total, these contracts represented the 55.06% of total hiring carried out in the third month of the year.
In the first three months of the year, there have been 3.4 million contracts, 4.3% less than in the same period of 2023. Of these, 1.53 million have been permanent contracts, 6.3% less, while 1.91 million have been temporary, which is 2.5% less than in the same period last year.
The unemployment coverage rate is close to 73.2%
The Ministry has also reported that the benefit spending unemployment rate reached in February 2024 (latest data available) the figure of 2,027.1 million euros3.8% more than in the same month of 2023.
He average monthly expense per beneficiarywithout including the agricultural subsidy of Andalusia and Extremadura, amounted to 1.092 euros in the month of February, 2% more.
The gross average amount of the benefit contribution received by beneficiary was 984.6 euros last Februarywhich represents an increase of 26 euros over the same month of the previous year (+2.4%).
He total beneficiaries of unemployment benefits stood at the end of February at 1.893.595 personasa figure 1.6% higher than that of February 2023.
The coverage ratewhich a year before was at 68.11%, rose in February 2024 to 73,19%the highest value for the month of February since 2011, as highlighted by Trabajo.
Benefit data is always one month late regarding unemployment data, so that the Ministry published this Tuesday the unemployment figures for March and the benefits statistics for February.
The Department led by Yolanda Díaz has also highlighted that in 2023 the unemployment budget surplus increased to 5,927 million euros thanks to the recovery of employment and greater collection due to the increase in salaries.
