Data on the labour market of the A.C. of the Basque Country for the first quarter of 2005 estimated the number of employed to be 936,100 persons, 2,500 fewer than three months before according to Eustat data. Furthermore, the unemployment rate stayed at 7%, the lowest figure since 1985.

In relation to the fourth quarter of 2004, the unemployed population and the unemployment rate remained stable, as a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed populations, the activity rate came to 55.3%.

The female unemployment rate increased by point 8 percent

The female unemployment rate reached 8.7%, increasing point 8 percent while the male rate fell by slightly more than point five percent (-0.6%). The youth unemployment rate fell point seven percent, affecting almost two in every five young active persons aged 16 to 24 years (18.2 %).

The unemployment rate of the A.C. of the Basque Country in the first quarter of 2005 was almost two percent below the rate for the countries of the Euro Zone. According to EUROSTAT- Statistics Office of the European Union -, in February 2005 in this Zone the unemployment rate stayed at 8.9%. The rate for the whole of the European Union, with 25 countries was the same as that of the Euro Zone.

Unemployed women, a collective of 36,900 persons, increased by 3,200. Among males, 3,200 left employment in the last quarter, which affected a total of 33,800 persons. There was also an outstanding increase in the group aged 45 and over with 2,200 more unemployed.

Fall in unemployment rates in Álava and Guipúzcoa, while in Bizkaia there was a point eight increase.

The number of unemployed was estimated at 70,700 in the first quarter, falling in Álava and Gipuzkoa and increasing in Bizkaia. In Álava there were 2,700 fewer unemployed persons than three months before, with the best level of the three provinces (3.4%). In Gipuzkoa there were 20,400 unemployed, 1,900 fewer than three months before, giving a rate of 6.2%. In Bizkaia, with a total of 45,500, there was an increase of 4,600 persons, increasing the rate to 8.5%.

However, we must consider that the small size of the unemployment figures in Alava means the estimation is not statistically significant and must be taken with precaution.

Bizkaia absorbs the loss in net employment in the first quarter of 2005

The number of employed persons came to 936,100, 2,500 fewer than three months before. By provinces, Bizkaia fundamentally absorbed the net loss in employment with 2,400 fewer jobs, Álava also lost 400 and Gipuzkoa increased by 200. With regard to sex, the improvement only affects males, with 3,200 more employed than the previous quarter, while the result for females worsened with 5,700 fewer employed.

Increase in employment occurred above all in the services sector with 13,600 new jobs.

With regard to the fourth quarter of 2004, there was an sharp increase in the number of workers in the services sector with 13,600 more jobs. Construction lost 11,800 jobs and industry lost 4,600.

The employment rate, percentage of employed persons aged 16 to 64 years in relation to the total population at these ages came to 64.9%, point one percent below three months before. The rate for males was 75.1%, while for women it was only 54.4%.

By provinces, the highest employment rate was the rate for Gipuzkoa with 67.2% and a point two percent increase. This was followed by Alava with 66.9% but with a point six percent decrease. Bizkaia had the lowest rate with 63% and a point two percent decrease in relation to the last quarter in 2004.

In the first quarter of 2005 it was estimated, with the new population projections, that there are 760,200 households in the A.C. of the Basque Country, a third of which do not have an active member. The number of households whose active members were all unemployed came to 15,900 (2.1% of the total), 1,000 more than in the previous quarter.

Women, Bizkaia and the services sector continue to absorb most of the employment created over the last year

The employed population grew by 16,400 persons over the last twelve months, 1.8% more. There was an increase of almost one and a half percent in the employment rate for women and, in the case of males, a half a percent increase. By provinces, there was a sharp increase in the rate in Bizkaia (1.4 percent), with regard to the first quarter of 2004.

Over the last year, the services sector created 23,200 net jobs. However, the primary sector continued to lose weight, while the construction sector stabilized.

The unemployment rate fell by slightly over one and a half percent over the last year in the A.C. of the Basque Country

The unemployment rate over the last year fell 1.6 percent (from 8.6% to 7%) which means that 16,100 persons left the situation of unemployment in the A.C. of the Basque Country.

Note: A methodological revision was carried out on the operation which led to changes that affected the sampling size and design of the questionnaire, adapting it to current needs, to the sampling framework and the balancing treatments with the incorporation of new population projections based on 2001. For further information see the methodology note.