News

Labour market data in the Basque Country for the third quarter of 2009 revealed that the number of people in work stood at 947,800, which was a net drop of 2,000 compared to the previous quarter (-0.2%), according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate stood at 8.3%, half a point up on the second quarter of 2009.

As a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate fell to 55.4% in the third quarter of 2009.

As regards gender, this decrease particularly affected men, with 3,400 fewer employed than in the previous quarter, while the number of women employed rose by 1,400. Employment fell in two out of the three provinces: Álava had 1,200 fewer net jobs, followed by Bizkaia with 900 fewer, while there were no changes in Gipuzkoa.

Jobs were lost in industry, construction and agriculture, while the service sector showed signs of a recovery

Industry lost 3,900 net jobs, followed by construction with 1,900 fewer, and finally, 700 jobs were lost in the agricultural sector. However, 6,900 net jobs were gained in the service sector.

The employment rate, the percentage of employed people aged 16 to 64 out of the total number of people within these ages, stood at 64.9%, a tenth of a point lower than three months earlier. This rate came to 71.4% among men, while it stood at 58.2% for women

By province, the highest employment rate was in Gipuzkoa (67.4%) and was two tenths up on the previous quarter. On the other hand, employment fell by half a point in Álava (65.7%). Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 63.2%, and had not changed in the last quarter.

The number of employed workers on an indefinite contract fell by 10,700 and stood at 616,900, while the employees with temporary contracts (including those without contracts) was up by 1,700 to a total of 164,300.

The Basque Country is estimated to have around 840,100 households, of which almost a third has no working member. All the active people were employed in nearly six out of ten households, 4,500 fewer families than in the previous quarter. In addition, households whose active members were all unemployed came to 23,400 (2.8% of the total), 800 fewer than in the previous quarter.

Unemployment rate from 7.8% to 8.3%

The number of people out of work, which is to say people who were actively seeking work and were furthermore available for work, was estimated to be 85,500 in the third quarter of the year, 4,800 more than in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, in total 53,000 people, increased by 6,800 and the number of unemployed women fell by 2,000 in the third quarter, down to a total of 32,500.

Data for the third quarter of 2009 showed that the unemployment rate stood at 8.3%, half a percentage point up on the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate rose to 9.1% (1.11 percentage points up) and female unemployment fell by 0.4 points to 7.2%. The youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest at 25.3%, with unemployment affecting 14,000 young job seekers aged between 16 to 24.

By provinces, even though the greatest increase in the number of unemployed was in Gipuzkoa, (up by 2,400 people), it still had the lowest unemployment rate in the Basque Country (6.5%). Unemployment went up by 1,900 people in Bizkaia, with 47,900 people out of work, and the unemployment rate stood at 8.9%. There were 600 more unemployed people in Álava (10% unemployment rate) with respect to the previous quarter.

According to EUROSTAT - Statistical Office of the European Union-, the unemployment rate for the EU-27 as a whole was 9.1% in August 2009 and 18.9% for Spain.

49,300 people joined the ranks of the unemployed

The employed population fell by 44,300 people (-4.5%) over the last twelve-month period, in other words, the third quarter of 2009 with respect to the third quarter of 2008. This decrease was mainly among men, with 38,100 fewer jobs, while 6,200 women became unemployed.

The unemployment rate in the last year fell by 4.8 percentage points (from 3.5% to 8.3%), meaning that 49.300 more people joined the ranks of the unemployed in the Basque Country over the year. By province, the unemployment rate increased by 8.7 percentage points in Álava, by 4.3 points in Bizkaia and by 3.5 points in Gipuzkoa over the last twelve months.