Labour market data for the second quarter of 2008 in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country show the number of people in work holding at around 971,000, which means a slight fall of around 700 people on the previous quarter (-0.1%), according to data drawn up by Eustat. The unemployment rate stands at 3.5%, 0.2% up on the previous quarter.

With this trend in the number of people in work and unemployed, the activity rate remained unchanged at 55.1% in the second quarter of 2008.

A breakdown by gender shows that the fall in employment affected men, with 3900 less men in work than in the previous quarter, while the number of women in work rose by 3200. A breakdown by territories reveals net falls in the numbers in work in Álava and Gipuzkoa of 600 and 400 respectively, but a net increase of 200 in Bizkaia.

The increase in employment is centred on the service sector, where there was a net increase of over 9000 jobs.

There was a net increase of 9400 jobs in the service sector in the second quarter of 2008, which almost completely offset the falls of 6900 in industry, 2800 in construction and 300 in agriculture.

The employment rate (the percentage of the total number of people aged between 60 and 64 who are in work) stands at 67.8%, the same figure as three months ago. Among men the rate is 76.3%, while among women it is 59.1%.

By provinces, the highest employment rate is found in Gipuzkoa, at 70.3%, unchanged from the previous quarter. Next comes Álava with 68.4%, down by 0.1%. The lowest rate is that of Bizkaia at 66.2%, 0.1% up on the previous quarter.

Less salaried and more self-employed workers

In the second quarter of 2008 there were 802,300 salaried workers, 5600 less than three months earlier, while the number of self-employed workers rose by almost 5000. The number of salaried workers on indefinite contracts fell by 700 to 618,400, and the number on short-term contracts (or without contracts) fell by 5000 to 183,800.

Trend for nº of people in work since 1985. A.C. of the Basque Country (in thousands)

Source: Eustat

It is estimated that in the second quarter of 2008 there were 827.900 households in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, one third of which have no members in work. In almost 7 out of 10 households all members of working age were in work. This figure is up by 5600 households on the previous quarter. Furthermore, there were 10,800 households where the working age members were all unemployed (1.3% of the total), down on the previous quarter by 1000.

The unemployment rate in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country stands at 3.5%

The number of persons unemployed, i.e. looking for employment, actively seeking work and available for work, is estimated at 35,300 in the second quarter of 2008. The number of men out of work stands at 19,800, up 3400, while the number of women is down by 1500 on the second quarter at 15,700.

The data for the second quarter of 2008 show a 0.2% rise in the unemployment rate on the previous quarter, to 3.5%. The male unemployment rate is up by 0.6% to 3.5%, while the female unemployment rate is down by 0.4% to 3.6%. The highest unemployment rate continues to be found among young people, at 9.9% (up 1.1%). This means that there are 6300 young people aged between 16 and 24 in the economically active population who are unemployed.

A breakdown by provinces reveals that in Bizkaia the number of people unemployed rose by 3600 to 22,700, giving an unemployment rate of 4.3%, which is the highest in the AC of the Basque Country. In Gipuzkoa 9700 people are unemployed, a fall of 1700, so that the rate stands at 2.9%. The lowest rate is that of Álava, which stands at 2%, with 3000 people out of work.

The unemployment rate in the AC of the Basque Country in the second quarter of 2008 is 3.7% lower than the average for the countries of the euro zone. According to EUROSTAT -the statistical office of the European Union- unemployment in the euro zone stood at 7.2% in May 2008. The rate for the European Union as a whole, taking into account all 27 member countries in 2008, stood at 6.8%.

The number of people in work has risen by 1.9% in the past year across the three provinces

The number of people in work has increased by 18,400 (1.9%) over the past 12 months. There were net increases in all three provinces, with 14,600 jobs being created in Bizkaia, 2400 in Gipuzkoa and 1300 in Álava. A breakdown by sectors reveals that most job creation took place in the service sector, with a net increase of 16.500 jobs, followed by construction with an increase of 2700 and finally the primary sector with an increase of 200. 1100 jobs were lost in industry over the year.

The number of women in work increased over the past 12 months by 2.9%, and the number of men by 0.2%. The inter-annual employment rate rose by 2.3% in Bizkaia, by 0.8% in Gipuzkoa and by 0.3% in Álava.

Over the year the number of casual and non-contract salaried workers fell by 1900, and the number of salaried workers on indefinite contracts increased by 21,900. This highlights the fact that there is a gradual increase in the proportion of salaried workers on indefinite contracts: in the second quarter of 2008 this category accounted for 77.1% of the total, compared to 76.3% last year.

The unemployment rate has risen by 0.1% over the past year in the AC of the Basque Country

The unemployment rate has risen by 0.1% over the past year, from 3.4% to 3.5%, which means that there were 1600 more people out of work in the AC of the Basque Country in June 2008 than in July 2007. A breakdown by provinces reveals that the rate in Gipuzkoa has risen by 0.4%, in Álava it has fallen by 0.3% and in Bizkaia it has remained unchanged over the past 12 months.

POPULATION SURVEY IN REGARD TO ACTIVITY (PRA)

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