Labour market data in the A.C. of the Basque Country for the third quarter of 2008 revealed that the number of people in work stood at 971,400, which was up by 600 (+0.1%) compared to the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate remained at 3.5% and there were not on the previous quarter.

As a result of the evolution of the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate remained steady at 55.1% in the third quarter of 2008.

When taking gender into account, the increase in employment affected men, with 1,000 more employed than in the previous quarter, while employed women fell by 3000. By provinces, employment increased in Álava and in Gipuzkoa, with 3,200 and 600 more net jobs, respectively. Bizkaia, on the other hand, lost 3,100 net employees.

The creation of net jobs in the industry offsets the loss in other sectors

Industry has created 7,800 net jobs in the third quarter of 2008, which offset losses in construction, with 5,500 net job less, the service sector, with 1,500 fewer jobs and agriculture, with 200 less.

The employment rate, the percentage of employed people aged 16 to 64 out of the total number of people within these ages, stood at 67.9%, point one per cent higher than three months earlier. This rate came to 76.6% among men, while it stood at 58.9% for women

By province, the highest employment rate was in Gipuzkoa with 70% and an increase as regards the previous quarter of point two per cent; it was followed by Álava with 69.9% and 1.5 percentage points more. Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 65.7%, and was half a point down on the previous quarter.

The number of employees increased, but the number of self-employed fell

In the third quarter of 2008, the total number of employees stood at 809,400, which was 7,100 up on the previous quarter, while the number of self-employed fell by 6,400. The number of employees with an indefinite contract was up by 6,400 and stood at 624,800 and those with a temporary contract (including those without a contract), increased by 800, up to a total of 184,600.

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

Source: EUSTAT

The A.C. of the Basque Country is estimated to have around 828,600 households, of which almost a third had no working member. In almost six out of ten households, all the active people were employed, 2,400 fewer families than the previous quarter. In addition, households whose active members were all unemployed came to 9,900 (1.2% of the total), 900 fewer than in the previous quarter

Unemployment rate remained at 3.5% 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, was estimated to come to 35,500 in the third quarter of the year. The number of unemployed men, which totalled 18,900, fell by 900, while the group of unemployed women rose by 900 in the third quarter, up to a total of 16,600.

The unemployment figures for the third quarter of 2008 revealed that the unemployment rate remained steady with respect to the previous quarter, at 3.5%. The male unemployment rate fell to 3.3% (0.21 percentage points down) and the female one rose by two tenths of a point, up to 3.8%. The youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest at 9.2%, but was 0.7 percentage points down, with unemployment affecting 5,800 young active people aged between 16 and 24..

By province, the number of jobless fell by 1.100 in Bizkaia to 23,800 and brought the unemployment rate to 4.5%, which was highest out of the three territories. Unemployment rose by 100 people to 9,800 in Gipuzkoa, with an employment rate of 3%. On the other hand, there were 1,900 unemployed in Álava and it continued to be the lowest rate (1.3%).

The unemployment rate of the A.C. of the Basque Country for the third quarter of 2008 was 4percentage 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 August 2008 was 7.5%. Additionally, the rate for the European Union as a whole, bearing in mind the 27 member countries in 2008, stood at 6.9%.

The employed population increased in industry, in services and in the primary sector, while it fell in construction over the last year

The employed population grew over the last twelve-month period, third quarter of 2008 with respect to the third quarter of 2007, by 1,300 people (0.1%). This increase was seen in two of the three provinces, with the creation of 2,900 net jobs in Álava and 2.200 in Gipuzkoa, while Bizkaia lost 3,900 jobs. By sectors, industry is where most job were fundamentally created with 5,900 additional jobs, followed by the services sector with an increase of 2,000 net jobs and, finally, the primary sector with 300 more people employed. Construction lost 6,000 jobs over the last year.

Over the twelve-month period, there was an increase in the female employment rate of 1.6 percentage points, while the male employment rate fell by 1.2 percentage point. The year-on-year employment rate increased by one percentage point in Álava and by 0.6 points in Gipuzkoa, but it fell by 0.3 points in Bizkaia.

The number of temporary and contractless wage earners fell by 4,800 and that of wage earners with an indefinite contract increased by 12,300 over the last year. There was, therefore, a gradual rise in the number of permanent wage earners, since in the third quarter of 2008, this type of wage earner accounted for 77.2% of the total, and a year earlier had accounted for 76.4%.

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

The unemployment rate in the last year fell by 0.4 percentage points (from 3.1% to 3.5%), which meant that there were a further 4,700 people without a job in the A.C. of the Basque Country over the year. By territories, the unemployment rate rose by 0.9 point in Bizkaia and 0.4 points in Gipuzkoa. However, it fell by 0.9 point in Álava over the last twelve months.

POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY SURVEY (PRA)

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