Press Release 19/07/2019
SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. II/2019
The unemployment rate stood at 9.6%, and the employment rate increased by 1.2% in the second quarter of 2019 in the Basque Country
The unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 9.6% in the last year
Basque Country labour market data for the second quarter of 2019 showed a figure of 947,900 people in work, which is an increase of 11,700 compared to the previous quarter (+1.2%), according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 9.6%, 0.7 percentage points down on the first quarter of 2019. As a result of the change in the working and unemployed population, the activity rate was 56.7% in the second quarter of 2019, one percentage point above that of the previous quarter.
Employment rate of the population aged between 16 and 64 in the Basque Country, by sex and quarter
percentage
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Q1, 1985 Q1, 1991 Q1, 1997 Q1, 2003 Q1, 2009 Q1, 2015
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By province and compared to the previous quarter, Gipuzkoa experienced the biggest rise in employment, with 6,400 more people in work; followed by Álava, with an increase of 3,900, whilst in Bizkaia employment was up by 1,400. With regards to the capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz had the greatest increase in employment, with 2,800 more people in work; followed by San Sebastián, with a rise of 200, whilst in Bilbao employment fell by 1,000.
As far as gender was concerned, the rise in employment affected women the most, with 8,700 more women in work than in the previous quarter, whilst the number of men in work increased by 3,000.
With regards to nationality, the number of Spanish nationals in work was up by 9,400, whilst the number of foreign nationals in work increased by 2,300.
Employment increased in the services and construction sectors, and decreased in industry and in the primary sector
The employed population in the Basque Country was up by 12,900 in the services sector and by 500 in the construction sector; on the other hand, employment fell by 800 in industry and by 1,000 in the primary sector.
The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose by one percentage point compared to the previous quarter, standing at 68.6%. This figure reached 72.6% for men and 64.6% for women.
As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, with 69.7%, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 56.8%.
By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 70.6%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 69.3% and a rise of 1.9 points, and in Bizkaia, the employment rate was up 0.3 percentage points to stand at 67.1%.
The number of households with all active individuals in work rose by 8,300
In the second quarter of 2019 it was estimated that there were 892,700 households in the Basque Country, of which a quarter did not have any active individuals. In six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 8,300 families more than the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 28,800, 2,000 households fewer than the previous quarter.
The second quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.6%, 0.7 points less than the previous quarter
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 100,300 in the second quarter of the year, 6,700 down on the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 47,800, was down by 1,800, whilst the number of unemployed women fell by 5,000, reaching a total of 52,400 for the quarter.
The data for the second quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.6%, 0.7 points less than the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate stood at 8.7% (0.4 percentage points down) and the female rate was down by one percentage point, reaching 10.5%. By age, the youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest, standing at 20.6%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
Unemployment was also down amongst foreign nationals (1,100 less than the previous quarter), with the number of unemployed individuals standing at 20,700. The unemployment rate of this group turned out to be the highest, at 23.2%, although it decreased by 1.5 points.
By province, the greatest decrease in the number of people out of work was in Gipuzkoa (-3,900 individuals) where the unemployment rate stood at 6.7%, 1.2 percentage points down on the previous quarter. In Álava, with 15,800 people out of work, the number of unemployed fell by 2,300 and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.6 percentage points to 9.8%. In Bizkaia, there were 500 fewer unemployed people than the previous quarter and the unemployment rate was down 0.1 percentage points (11.3%).
As regards the capitals, the highest fall in unemployment was in Vitoria-Gasteiz, with 1,300 fewer people out of work, followed by Bilbao (-500), whilst in San Sebastián 100 more people were out of work.
According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in May 2019 the overall unemployment rate of the European Union-28 stood at 6.3% and that of Spain stood at 13.6%.
In the last year, the number of employed people increased by 0.6% and the unemployment rate dropped from 10.2% to 9.6%.
The employed population in the Basque Country grew by 5,600 people in relation to the second quarter of 2018, an increase of 0.6%. The rise in employment in the services sector stood out, with an increase of 9,700 people, followed by the construction sector, which employed 2,800 more people; on the other hand, employment in the primary sector and in industry dropped by 1,400 and 5,600 people, respectively.
The unemployment rate was down by 0.6 percentage points (from 10.2% to 9.6%), with 6,300 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the second quarter of 2018.
98.7% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria
It is estimated that there were 879,500 registered workers for the quarter on average in the Basque Country, i.e. the number of individuals residing in the Basque Country who were registered for Social Security at the time of the survey. Of those, the PRA estimates that 98.7% were employed, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a total of 867,800 individuals.
Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 70,200 people, 7.4%, were not registered in the Social Security system, either because they did not work for companies based in the Basque Country, or they belonged to public mutual societies for civil servants, or are in other situations.
34.8% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)
It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 99,200 unemployed individuals registered with Lanbide, i.e. individuals residing in the Basque Country who were registered in Lanbide at the time of the survey in any one of the categories designated for registered unemployment. Of those, 64.5% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (64,000 people). Of the individuals unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA, 34.8% were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (34,900 individuals), even though they may be registered under other categories of job seekers.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62