According to the Survey on the Population in Relation to Activity (PRA), published by the Eustat every three months, almost 888,400 people were employed in the second quarter of 2002 in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, 1% more than the previous month. The number of unemployed came to 73,000 and the unemployment rate reached 7.6%, according to the new European Union harmonised definition of unemployment. These results imply a fall in the number of unemployed (-8,000) and the unemployment rate (-0.8 percent) with regard to the 1^st quarter of 2002. As a result of the above, the activity rate increased by 0.2 percent (53.6%).

According to the new definition of unemployment, applied from the previous quarter, the unemployment rate in the A.C. of the Basque Country in the second quarter was 7.6% for the whole of the active population. This represents a reduction in the number of unemployed by 8,000 and 0.8 percent for the unemployment rate of the last three months.

Although there was also a reduction of almost one percent by sexes with regard to the last quarter, the differences between them are still quite clear, as the female unemployment rate (11.5%) is double the male rate (4.9%).

Unemployment rates fell in the three Provinces. The low rates in Álava and Gipuzkoa, 6.9% and 5.9%, respectively, did not register important variations (-0.3 percent); while in Bizkaia, whose rate is now 8,9%, the reduction was 1.3 percent.

The unemployment rate for European Union countries according to the EUROSTAT –European Union Statistics Office- in May 2002 was 7.6%, the same as the A.C. of the Basque Country in the second quarter of 2002, following the homogeneous definition of the unemployed population. For the Euro Zone countries the unemployment rate is slightly higher (8.3%).

The unemployed population in the second quarter of 2002 was 73,000 persons, 7,600 fewer than three months ago. The number of unemployed females (-4,900) and males (-3,000) both fell. In Álava this group is 10,100 personas (-400), 44,300 (-6.800) in Bizkaia and 18,700 persons (-700) in Gipuzkoa. Finally, the number of unemployed seeking their first job fell (-3,300), while those looking for a job for two years or longer, around 20,000 persons, increased (+1,200 persons). The latter group accounts for over half the total number of unemployed.

The number of employed in the second quarter of 2002 was 888,400, i.e. 9,500 more than three months ago. This figure is once again a new maximum. This continues the rising trend of the last five years, in each of which the employed population has increased by around 10,000 persons. By Provinces, Álava practically repeated the above result (+100 persons), while in Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia there were more significant increases (+5,000 and +4,300 persons, respectively). The increases benefit females more (+6,600) than males (+2,900).

The number of employed increased in the four economic sectors in the last three months: in Industry and Services, around 3,000 persons in each case; in Construction, by 2,400 persons and, to a lesser extent, in Agriculture (+1,100).

With the increase in the number of employed, the employment rate also rose, i.e. the percentage of employed persons on the total population aged between 16 and 64 inclusive. In the second quarter of 2002 this percentage came to 62,6% (almost one percent more than the previous quarter), bearing in mind notable differences between males (75.8 employed out of every 100 males of working age) and females (49.2 out of every 100).

In the classification of households, there was fall in those with all active members unemployed (-2,200), while the number of households in the rest of the types rose: households with 1 or more active members, and households without active members, and in particular households with all their active members employed (+6,500).

The employed population grew with regard to the second quarter of 2001 by 41,500 persons, i.e. almost 5%. This increase was approximately 9% for females and 2.4% for males. By Provinces, there were no important relative differences, as the number of employed in the last 12 months has increased by around 5% in each of the three Provinces.

Over the last year, the number of employed in Industry fell (-1.7%) and the number in the Construction sector rose 6.3%, while there was an 8.4% increase for Services. In the same period the employment rate increase by 3.2 percent.

For comparison, the unemployment rate was estimated to be 10% in the second quarter of 2001 with the new definition. Thus, the estimated fall for this last year is 2.4 percent for the total population, almost two percent for males and nearly 4 for females. By Provinces, the decrease is 1.5 percent in Álava and Gipuzkoa and 3.2 for Bizkaia .

For further information: