Date Published: 04/11/2020
ARCHIVED - 117,827 unemployed in Murcia at the end of October
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The creation of new jobs was positive in the Murcia Region during October, but there is still an underlying higher level of employment due to the covid pandemic
This week the unemployment figures produced by the Ministry of Employment for Spain were published, highlighting the see-saw employment situation caused by the coronavirus crisis.
The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain rose during October by a further 49,588, bringing it up to 3,826,043, but a more graphic illustration of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the working population of the country is the fact that the figure is more than 20 per cent higher than a year ago after an increase of almost 650,000.
The data for the month show significant differences among the 17 regions of Spain, with the sharpest rises in comparison with the month before being those of 6.4 per cent in La Rioja and 6 per cent in the Balearics. On the other hand, though there were falls in three regions, namely the Basque Country, the Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia.
Over the last 12 months, though, there have been huge increases across the board, the spectacular of them being that of 61.5 per cent in the Balearics.
Employment has been created during the summer months, but not enough to off-set the losses of earlier in the year.
Situation in Murcia:
In Murcia, despite the slight fall of 511 in the jobless total in October, the total now stands at 117,827 following a rise of 18 per cent over the last year – although it must be remembered that a further 8,712 are still on ERTE furlough schemes. At the same time, the number of people in employment and making social security contributions rose by 9,375 during last month, and a very slight increase is also reported over the last year, making Murcia one of only two regions where this is the case (the other being Castilla-La Mancha).
Different methods of monitoring the emploment situation:
It should be remembered that the monthly data regarding unemployment which are produced by the Ministry of Employment are usually significantly lower than those featured in the quarterly Active Population Survey (EPA), because the EPA also takes into account those who are out of work but for one reason or another have chosen not to register as such at employment offices. On this occasion, however, the latest EPA for the third quarter of 2020 published last week reported that there were 3.72 million unemployed in Spain at the end of September, 15.8 per cent more than twelve months previously, while in Murcia the figure reported was 128,500.