Labour market data in the A.C. of the Basque Country for the fourth quarter of 2007 showed the number of people in work as 974,4100 people, which means 4,300 more than three months previously, according to Eustat data. Elsewhere, the unemployment rate did not vary and remained unchanged at the 3.1% of the previous quarter, with the number of jobless coming to 31,400, which was up by six hundred.

As a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate increased by 0.2 percentage points and stood at 55.1% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

As regards gender, the improvement affected only women, with 9,300 more women in work than in the previous quarter, while the number of employed men fell by 5,000. The increase in employment was mainly in Gipuzkoa with 4,000 more net jobs, followed by Álava with 900, while Bizkaia lost 700 net jobs.

The services, construction and agriculture sectors created net jobs over the last three months, while the number of people employed in industry fell.

Special mention should be number of people employed in the services sector, with 4,700 more employees; followed by construction with 1000 more net jobs and agriculture with 500. On the other hand, industry lost 1,900.

The employment rate, the percentage of employed people aged 16 to 64 out of the total number of people within these ages, stood at 68%, 0.3 percentage points higher than three months earlier This rate came to 77.2% among men, while it stood at 58.6% for women

By province, the highest employment rate was in Gipuzkoa with 70% and an increase as regards the previous quarter of point eight per cent; it was followed by Álava with 69.3% and four tenths more Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 66%, and did not vary with respect to the previous quarter.

The number of wage earners with an indefinite contract rose by 3,400 and wage earners with a temporary contract increased by 4,200

In the fourth quarter of 2007, the total number of wage earners was 801,100. The number of wage earners with an indefinite contract rose by 3,400 and came to 615,900, while wage earners with a temporary contract (including those with no contract at all) fell by 4,200, making a total of 185,20.

Trend of the employed population from 1985. A.C. of the Basque Country. (In thousands)

Source: Eustat

It was estimated that in the fourth quarter of 2007 there were nearly 800,000 households in the A.C. of the Basque Country, of which almost a third had no active member. In almost 7 out of 10 households all the active people were employed, 1,500 more families than the previous quarter. In addition, households whose active members were all unemployed came to 9,100 (1.1% of the total), 800 less than in the previous quarter

The unemployment stood at 3.1% in the A.C. of the Basque Country

The number of people out of work, which is to say people who were actively seeking work and were furthermore available for work, totalled 31,400 for the fourth quarter of the year. The number of unemployed women, totalling 15,400, increased by 100 and the number of unemployed men increased in number by 500 in the fourth quarter, meaning that unemployment affected a total of 16,000.

Data for the fourth quarter of 2007 showed that the unemployment rate was the same as for the previous quarter, standing at 3.1%. The female unemployment rate fell to 3.6% (0.21 percentage points more) and the male one rose by one tenth of a point, up to 2.8%. The youth unemployment rate continue to be the highest at 7.1%, even though it had dropped by 0.1 percentage points, with unemployment affecting 4,300 young active people aged 16 to 24.

By province, in Álava, the number of jobless fell by 200 to a total of 3,000 and brought the unemployment rate to 2%; in Gipuzkoa, there were 8,100 jobless, 400 less than in the previous three months, with a rate of 2.4% and in Bizkaia there were 20,300 jobless, 1,100 more than in the previous quarter, and it continued to have the highest unemployment rate (3.9%).

The unemployment rate of the A.C. of the Basque Country for the fourth quarter of 2007 was 4 percentage points lower than that of the Euro Zone countries. According to EUROSTAT - Statistical Office of the European Union-, the unemployment rate in this area for November 2007 was 7.2%. Additionally, the rate for the European Union as a whole, bearing in mind the 27 member countries in 2007, stood at 6.9%.

Over the last year 2,500 net jobs were created

The employed population grew over the twelve-month period by 2,500, or 0.3%. This increase was seen in two of the three provinces, with the creation of 2,600 net jobs in Bizkaia and 900 in Álava, while Gipuzkoa lost 1000. By sector, the services sector generated the most jobs, with 6,400 additional jobs, followed by construction with an increase of 1,800 net jobs. On the other hand, the level of employment in industry fell by 5,300 people and finally, sector 400 jobs were lost in the primary sector.

Over the twelve-month period, there is an increase in the male employment rate of 0.1 percentage points and the female rate by three tenths of a percentage point. If compared inter-annually, the employment rate only increased in Bizkaia (0.5 percentage points more), while it fell two tenths of a point in Gipuzkoa and one tenth of a point in Álava.

The number of temporary wage earners diminished over the year by 30,100 and that of wage earners with an indefinite contract increased by 30,700. There was, therefore, a gradual rise in the number of permanent wage earners, since in the fourth quarter of 2007 this type of wage earner represented 77% of the total, and a year earlier had represented 73%.

The unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points in the last year in the A.C. of the Basque Country

The unemployment rate in the last year fell by 0.3 percentage points (from 3.4% to 3.1%), meaning that 2,900 jobless people found work in the A.C. of the Basque Country over the year. All three provinces lowered their unemployment rate over the twelve-month period: the sharpest fall was in Álava (1.1 percentage points less), followed by Gipuzkoa (0.2 points less) and finally Bizkaia (0.1 points less).

POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY SURVEY (PRA)

*p.p. = Difference in percentage points.

Source: EUSTAT