Press Release 17/04/2015
The population in work rose by 0.4% and the unemployment rate stood at 14.8% in the first quarter of 2015 in the Basque Country
The activity rate rose by a tenth of a percent and stood at 57.6%
The data from the labour market in the Basque Country from the first quarter of 2015 showed a figure of 894,100 individuals in work, which is a net decrease of 3,900 compared with the previous quarter (-0.4%), according to Eustat data. Furthermore, the active population, standing at 1,048,900 people, fell by 1,400 people in relation to the previous period (-0.1%). These trends meant that the unemployment rate of the Basque Country reached 14.8%, 0.3 percentage points up on the fourth quarter of 2014.
Also as a result of the change in the working and unemployed population, the activity rate was 57.6% in the first quarter of 2015, 0.1 percentage points above that of the previous quarter.
As far as gender was concerned, the fall in employment affected men, with 7,200 fewer in work than in the previous quarter, whilst the number of women in work increased by 3,300. By province, the number of individuals in work decreased by 2,500 in Gipuzkoa, by 1,200 in Bizkaia and by 100 in Álava.
The working population fell in all sectors, except for the primary sector
The working population was down by 2,700 in the services sector, by 1,800 in industry and by 100 in construction, whilst in the primary sector it rose by 700.
The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, remained at 64.8%, identical to the previous quarter. This figure reached 67.8% for men and 61.7% for women.
By province, the highest employment rate turned out to be that of Gipuzkoa, with 67.6% and an decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; this was followed by Álava, with a rate of 66.3% and an increase of 0.7 points; lastly, Bizkaia had the lowest rate, with 62.6% and an decrease of one percentage point in the last quarter.
The number of salaried individuals with a permanent contract grew by 2,100 to reach 526,900, whilst the number of people on a temporary contract or without a contract decreased by 5,200, bringing this total for this group to 184,100.
In 5.7% of households all active individuals were unemployed
In the first quarter of 2015 it was estimated that there were 864,800 households in the Basque Country (8,100 more 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, 200 families less than the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 49,000 (5.7% of the total), 700 more than in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The first quarter of 2015 posted an unemployment rate of 14.8%
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 154,800 in the first quarter of the year, 2,500 up on the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 83,500 individuals, was up by 4,300, whilst the number of unemployed women fell by 2,000, reaching a total of 71,200 for the quarter.
The data for the first quarter of 2015 revealed an unemployment rate of 14.8%, three tenths of a percent higher that of the previous quarter, but seven tenths of a percent lower than the first quarter of 2014. The male unemployment rate rose to 15.1% (0.9 percentage points up) and the female rate was down 0.4 points, standing at 14.4%. The youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest, and stood at 38.8%, affecting 18,500 active young people between the ages of 16 and 24.
By province, the number of unemployed individuals was up by a 3,600 in Bizkaia and the unemployment rate stood at 16.3%. On the other hand, in Gipuzkoa unemployment fell by two hundred and the unemployment rate remained at 12.1% and in Álava there were a thousand fewer unemployed individuals and the unemployment rate stood at 15.3%.
According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in February 2015 the unemployment rate of the European Union-28 stood at 9.8% and that of Spain stood at 23.2%.
Year-on-year evolution of the work market
If the data of the first quarter of 2015 are compared to those of the first quarter of 2014, we see that the population in work rose by 7,800, the number of unemployed fell by 8,000 and the unemployment rate dropped from 15.5% in the first quarter of 2014 to 14.8% in the first quarter of 2015.
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 survey on the population in relation to activity in the Basque Country (PRA)
Databank on survey on the population in relation to activity in the Basque Country (PRA)