Press release 11/09/2020

SERVICE SECTOR INDEX. OTHER MARKET SERVICES. II/2020

Sales in Market Services in the Basque Country were down 29.0% in the second quarter of 2020

This downturn is generalised across all branches, varying between -64.3% in Hotel Management and Catering and -4.8% in Information & Communications

The sectors that come under Other Market Services (hereinafter Market Services) registered a 29.0% decrease in sales compared to the second quarter of the previous year, in real terms and once calendar effects had been discounted, according to Eustat data.

Compared to the previous quarter, these services reduced their sales by 24.0% at constant prices and once any seasonal effects had been eliminated.

Within Market Services, the year-on-year downturn in real sales is generalised. Of particular note is the drop in sales in the Hotel Management and Catering sector, with an estimated fall of 64.3%. It is followed by the Sales Indices of Administrative Activities & Auxiliary Services with a decrease of 31.7%; Transport and Storage, down 25.2%, Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities, which registered a year-on-year variation of -10.9%; and, finally the Information & Communications sector, which fell by 4.8%. All the above in relation to the second quarter of the previous year and once corrected for calendar effects.

By province, and once the price and calendar effects had been discounted, in Álava there was year-on-year decrease in the Sales Index of 32.2%, in Bizkaia it was down 26.2% and in Gipuzkoa there was a fall of 33.2%.

The index of people employed in Market Services as a whole for the Basque Country dropped 5.6% in the year-on-year period. In relation to the previous quarter, the decrease was 4.9%.

NOTE

The state of alarm declared in Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March in order to manage the health crisis caused by COVID-19 ended on 21 June. The exceptional measures adopted during the state of alarm have had a direct impact on the establishments that participate in the Service Sector Index.

Included as persons employed considered in this and other short-term indices, are those covered by an ERTE (Temporary Labour Force Adjustment Plan), following the definition of persons employed indicated by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in its manual Methodology of Short Term Business Statistics.

The models used in the correction of calendar effects and deseasonalisation of the series include the effect of COVID-19 on the variables studied, following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) (Eurostat) in its methodological note Guidance on Time Series Treatment in the context of the COVID-19 crisis..

Eustat would like to thank all the companies that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the index for the second quarter of 2020 was calculated with 90.74% coverage of the sample - whose information was mainly collected during July and August.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62