Press Release 17/10/2014

POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY SURVEY (PRA) III/2014

The population in work fell by 0.1% and the unemployment rate fell to 14.5% in the third quarter of 2014 in the Basque Country

The active population decreased and the activity rate stood at 57%

The data from the labour market in the Basque Country from the third quarter of 2014 showed that there were 892,000 people in work, which was a net decrease of 700 compared with the previous quarter (-0.1%), according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 14.5%, 0.5 percentage points down compared with the second quarter of 2014.

As a result of the change in the working and unemployed population, the activity rate was 57% in the third quarter of 2014, three tenths of a percentage point below that of the previous quarter.

As far as gender was concerned, the fall in employment affected women, with 1,800 fewer in work than in the previous quarter, whilst the number of men in work increased by 1,200. By province, the number of people in work fell by 1,200 in Bizkaia and by 500 in Álava, while in Gipuzkoa it rose by 1,100.

The primary, industry and construction sectors saw increased employment, while the drop mostly affected services

The population in work fell in the service sector by 3,300 people, while it rose in the remaining sectors: in the primary sector by 200, in industry by 1,300, and in construction by 1,200.

The employment rate, the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, was up by 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 64.3%. This figure reached 68.2% for men and 60.4% for women.

By province, the highest employment rate turned out to be that of Gipuzkoa, with 67.4% and an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; this was followed by Álava, with a rate of 64.8% and a decrease of 0.1 points; lastly, Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 62.2% and an increase of 0.2 percentage points in the last quarter.

The number of salaried individuals with a permanent contract fell to 519,900, whilst those on a temporary contract or without a contract brought the total for this group up to 184,200.

In 5.7% of households all active individuals were unemployed

In the third quarter of 2014 it was estimated that there were 857,300 households in the Basque Country (500 fewer than the previous quarter) a third of which did not have any active individuals. In just over half of households, all of the active individuals were in work, 5,000 families less than the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 48,600 (5.7% of the total).

The unemployment rate fell from 15% to 14.5%

The unemployed population in the Basque Country, that is, individuals who are available for work, actively making enquiries and seeking employment, was estimated to be 151,800 in the third quarter of the year, 6,000 down from the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 82,200 individuals, decreased by 2,100, whilst the number of unemployed women decreased by 3,900, reaching a total of 69,600 in the quarter.

The data for the third quarter of 2014 revealed an unemployment rate of 14.5%, 0.5 points less than the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate fell to 14.8% (0.3 percentage points down) and the female rate was down 0.6 points, reaching 14.3%. The youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest, and stood at 37.9%, affecting 18,100 active young people between the ages of 16 and 24.

By province, the greatest decrease in the number of people out of work was in Bizkaia (-5,900 individuals) where the unemployment rate stood at 15.6%. In Gipuzkoa, with 42,200 individuals out of work, the number of unemployed fell by 1,000, with the unemployment rate standing at 12.3%. In Álava, there were 800 more unemployed individuals than the previous quarter and the unemployment rate stood at 15.9%.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in August 2014 the unemployment rate of the European Union-28 stood at 10.1% and that of Spain stood at 24.4%.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62 Further press releases on population in relation to activity survey (PRA) Databank on population in relation to activity survey (PRA)