Labour market data in the A.C. of the Basque Country for the first quarter of 2008 showed the number of people in work to total 971,500 people, which was down by 2,900 compared to three months previously, according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate rose to 3.3%, from 3.1% in the previous quarter, and the number of people out of work rose by 2,200.

As a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate did not vary and stood at 55 1% in the first quarter of 2008.

As regards gender, this decrease particularly affected men, with 2,800 fewer employed than in the previous quarter, while the number of women employed fell by 200. By province, employment fell to the greatest extent in Gipuzkoa, with 2,000 fewer net jobs, followed by Álava with 600 and Bizkaia with 300 fewer net jobs.

The service sector lost jobs over the last three months

Special mention should be made of the number of people employed in the service sector, where there were 10,600 fewer jobs. On the other hand, Industry gained 6,900, Construction 400 and Agriculture 300 net jobs.

The employment rate, the percentage of employed people aged 16 to 64 out of the total number of people within these ages, stood at 67,8%, 0.2 percentage points less than three months earlier This rate came to 76.8% among men, while it stood at 58.6% for women

By province, the highest employment rate was in Gipuzkoa with 70.3% and a fall as regards the previous quarter of point four per cent; it was followed by Álava with 68.5% and point eight percentage points fewer. Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 66,1%, and it was up point one per cent on the previous quarter.

The number of wage earners with an indefinite contract rose by 3,200 and wage earners with a temporary contract increased by 3,600

In the first quarter of 2008, the total number of wage earners stood at 807,900. The number of wage earners with an indefinite contract rose by 3,200 and totalled 619,100, while wage earners with a temporary contract (including those with no contract at all) increased by 3,600, up to a total of 188,800.

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

Source: Eustat

In the first quarter of 2008, there were estimated to be nearly 800,000 households in the A.C. of the Basque Country, of which almost a third had no working member. In almost 7 out of 10 households all the active people were employed, 3,300 fewer families than the previous quarter. In addition, households whose active members were all unemployed came to 11,800 (1.5% of the total), 2.700 more than in the previous quarter

Unemployment rate stood at 3.3% in the A.C. of the Basque Country

The number of people out of work, in other words, people who were actively seeking work and were furthermore available for work, came to 33,600 in the first quarter of the year. The number of unemployed women, totalling 17,200, increased by 1.800 and the number of unemployed men increased in number by 400 in the first quarter, which meant that unemployment affected a total of 16,400.

Data for the first quarter of 2008 showed that the unemployment rate has increased by point two percentage points with respect to the previous quarter, standing at 3.3%. The female unemployment rose to 4% (up 0.4 percentage points) and the male one rose by point one percent, up to 2.9%. The youth unemployment rate continue to be the highest at 8.8% and had increased by 1.7 percentage points, with unemployment affecting 5,600 young active people aged 16 to 24.

By province, in Álava, the number of jobless fell by 100 to a total of 3,100 and brought the unemployment rate to 2,1%; in Gipuzkoa, there were 11,400 jobless, 3.300 more than in the previous three months, with a rate of 3.4%. However, in Bizkaia there were 19,100 jobless, down by 1,200 on previous quarter, although it continued to have the highest unemployment rate (3.6%).

The unemployment rate of the A.C. of the Basque Country for the first quarter of 2008 was 3.8percentage 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 February 2008 was 7.1%. Additionally, the rate for the European Union as a whole, bearing in mind the 27 member countries in 2008, stood at 6.7%.

The working population increased by 1% over the last year

The employed population grew over the twelve-month period by 9,300, or 1%. This increase was seen in two of the three provinces, with the creation of 8,300 net jobs in Bizkaia and 1.900 in Álava, while Gipuzkoa lost 1000. By sectors, all the sectors registered an increase: the service sector generated the most jobs, with 3,100 additional jobs, followed by industry with an increase of 3,000 net jobs, construction with 2,900 and, finally, the primary sector with 200 more people employed.

Over the twelve-month period, there is an increase in the female employment rate of 1.5 percentage points and the male rate by four tenths of a percentage point. If compared inter-annually, the employment rate increased in Bizkaia (1.6 percentage points more) and point four per cent in Álava, while it remained the same in Gipuzkoa.

The number of temporary wage earners diminished over the year by 17,200 and that of wage earners with an indefinite contract increased by 30,300. There was, therefore, a gradual rise in the number of permanent wage earners, since in the first quarter of 2008 this type of wage earner accounted for 76.6% of the total, and a year earlier had accounted for 74.1%.

The unemployment rate fell by point one per cent in the last year in the A.C. of the Basque Country

The unemployment rate in the last year fell by 0.1 percentage points (from 3.4% to 3.3%), meaning that 500 jobless people found work in the A.C. of the Basque Country over the year. Two out of the three provinces lowered their unemployment rate over the twelve-month period: the sharpest fall was in Álava (0.6 percentage points less), followed by Bizkaia (0.5 points less). However, the unemployment rate rose in Gipuzkoa by 0.7 points.

POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY SURVEY (PRA)

*p.p. = Difference in percentage points. Source: EUSTAT