Labour market figures for the third quarter of 2004 in the A.C. of the Basque Country showed the number of employed people to be 908,200, 0.7% higher than the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. Additionally, the unemployment rate fell from 8% registered last quarter to 7.6%. These figures consolidate the trend identified during the second quarter of 2004, which pointed towards a larger employed population and a declining unemployed one.

In relation to the second quarter of 2004, the unemployed population diminished by 4,200 and the unemployment rate by 0.4 per cent. As a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed populations, the employment rate came to 55%.

The male unemployment rate fell to 6.2%, going down by point three per cent and the female one, while still much higher (9.4%), fell by point seven per cent. The youth unemployment rate increased by 2.4 per cent, affecting one in five active young people aged 16 to 24 (22.2 %).

The unemployment rate of the A.C. of the Basque Country in the third quarter of 2004 was nearly one and a half per cent lower than that of the Euro Zone countries. According to EUROSTAT- Statistics Office of the European Union- the unemployment rate for August 2004 in the Zone stood at 9%. The rate for the 25 countries of the European Union as a whole was the same as that of the Euro Zone.

The unemployment rate fell in all three Provinces

The number of unemployed men, made up of 35,100 people, decreased by 1,600. As for women, 2,600 found work in the last quarter, leaving a total of 39,200 still unemployed. There was a notable decrease among the 25 to 44 year-olds, with 2,900 less unemployed and even more so among those aged 45 or more (-3,600).

The number of people out of work, calculated to be 74,300 in the third quarter, fell in all three provinces. In Bizkaia there were 42,300 unemployed people, 2,300 less than three months earlier, although its rate of 8.3% remains the highest of the three provinces. In Álava, with a total of 7,500 people out of work, there was a fall of 1,500 and the unemployment rate for the province lowered to 5.2%. The number of unemployed in Gipuzkoa decreased by 500, making the unemployment rate 7.4% and leaving 24,400 people affected by unemployment.

There was, however, a rise in the number of young people aged 16 to 24 out of work (+2.300).

The employed population increased once more. The three provinces contributed to the net creation of employment in the third quarter of 2004

The number of employed people came to 908,200, 6,500 more than three months earlier. Employment increased in all three provinces, especially in Bizkaia with 3,200 more jobs, followed by Gipuzkoa with 2,400 and finally, Álava with 900 more. As for the sexes, the improvement affected both men and women, with the latter experiencing an appreciably better evolution in employment, with 4,700 more jobs than in the previous quarter.

Industry created 5,900 jobs and the services sector another 3,600

In relation to the second quarter of 2004, there was an outstanding increase in the number of people employed in industry, with 5,900 more employees, and in the services sector with 3,600. Construction practically repeated the previous result and in the primary sector there was a decrease, affecting 3,000 people.

The employment rate, the percentage of employed people aged 16 to 64 out of the total number of this age group, came to 64.4%, point four per cent higher than three months earlier. This rate for men stood at 74.9%, while for women it was a mere 53.9%.

By province, the highest employment rate remained that of Álava with 67.4%, an increase of half a point. This was followed by Gipuzkoa with 67.5% and a point six per cent increase. Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 61.8% and a 0.4 per cent increase with regard to the second quarter of 2004.

As regards households, there were 2,500 fewer cases of all their active members being out of work, while the number of those where all the active members were working was unchanged from the previous quarter.

The services sector created 13,400 net jobs with respect to the third quarter of 2003, while in the other sectors 10,200 were lost

The employed population grew by 3,200 people over the last twelve months, which is to say 0.35%. There was an increase in the female employment rate of 2 per cent, while in the case of men, there was a 1.2 per cent decrease. By Province, the rate increased for Bizkaia (point eight per cent) and Gipuzkoa (0.1 per cent), while in Álava it fell by point eight per cent in relation to the third quarter of 2003.

During the last year, the services sector created 13,400 net jobs. However, industry, with 1,400 less jobs, continued to lose weight as did agriculture (-3,200) and construction (-5,600). In this period the employment rate increased by point four per cent.

The unemployment rate fell by half a point over the year

The unemployment rate for the latest twelve-month period fell by point five per cent in the A.C. of the Basque Country. As for the sexes, the fall for women was one and a half per cent, while for men it rose by point one per cent. The youth unemployment rate increased by 1.1 per cent, whereas that of the 25 to 44 age group fell by one point. In Álava the unemployment rate fell by 2.2 per cent and in Gipuzkoa by point seven per cent, while in Bizkaia it remained unchanged.