Press Release 18/10/2019

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. III/2019

The unemployment rate fell to 9.2%, and the employment rate increased by 7,200 people in the third quarter of 2019 in the Basque Country

The unemployment rate fell from 9.5% to 9.2% in the last year

The data from the labour market in the Basque Country from the third quarter of 2019 showed a figure of 955,100 individuals in work, which is an increase of 7,200 compared with the previous quarter (+0.8%), according to Eustat data. On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 9.2%, 0.4 percentage points down on the second quarter of 2019 (9,6%). As a result of the change in the working and unemployed population, the activity rate was 56.9% in the third quarter of 2019, 0.2 percentage points above that of the previous quarter.

By province and compared to the previous quarter, Bizkaia experienced the biggest rise in employment, with 4,300 more people in work; followed by Gipuzkoa, with an increase of 2,400, whilst in Álava employment was up by 500. With regards to the capitals, Bilbao and San Sebastián were the capitals with the biggest rise in employment, with 500 more people in work; on the other hand, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, employment decreased by 100.

As far as gender was concerned, the rise in employment affected women the most, with 3,700 more women in work than in the previous quarter, whilst the number of men in work increased by 3,500.

With regards to nationality, the number of Spanish nationals in work was up by 5,500, whilst the number of foreign nationals in work increased by 1,700.

Employment increased in all sectors, except the construction sector

The working population in the Basque Country increased by 7,100 in the Services sector, 1,500 in Industry and 400 in the Primary Sector; in contrast, the number of people employed in the Construction sector fell by 1,800.

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 69.2%. This figure reached 73.1% for men and 65.3% for women.

With regards to the level of education completed, the employment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points among people who had completed secondary education, reaching 62.5%; it remained unchanged among people educated to primary school level or lower (60.2%); and it decreased by 0.2 percentage points among those who had completed higher education, standing at 83.6%.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, with 70.3%, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 57.8%.

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 71.5%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 70% and a rise of 0.7 points, and in Bizkaia, the employment rate was up 0.4 percentage points to stand at 67.5%.

The number of households with all active individuals in work rose by 6,100

In the third quarter of 2019 it was estimated that there were 893,200 households in the Basque Country, of which a third did not have any active individuals. In six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 6,100 families more than the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 28,100, 700 households fewer than the previous quarter.

The third quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.2%, 0.4 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 97,100 in the third quarter of the year, 3,200 down on the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 47,400, was down by 400, whilst the number of unemployed women fell by 2,600, reaching a total of 49,800 for the quarter.

The data for the third quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.2%, 0.4 percentage points down on the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate stood at 8.6% (0.1 percentage points down) and the female rate was down 0.6 percentage points, reaching 9.9%. By age, the youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest, standing at 20.1%, a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

As regards the level of education, the unemployment rate decreased among people whose highest level of education completed was secondary education, with a drop of 1.4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate standing at 9.7%. However, for people who had completed primary or higher education, the unemployment rate rose by 0.1 and 0.5 percentage points, standing at 14% and 6% respectively.

Unemployment was down among Spanish nationals (3,700 fewer than in the previous quarter), the number of unemployed people standing at 75,900, whereas among foreign nationals unemployment has increased by 600, the number of unemployed people standing at 21,300.

By province, there were 5,000 fewer people out of work in Bizkaia, where the unemployment rate stood at 10.4%, 0.9 percentage points down on the previous quarter. In contrast, in Álava, which has 16,500 people put of work, unemployment rose by 700 and the unemployment rate by 0.4 percentage points, reaching 10.2%; in Gipuzkoa unemployment rose by 1,100 people compared to the previous quarter and the unemployment rate was up 0.3 percentage points, standing at 7%.

As regard the capitals, unemployment fell by 1,600 people in Bilbao, whereas in San Sebastian it rose by 600 and in Vitoria-Gasteiz by 1,200.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in August 2019 the unemployment rate of the European Union-28 stood at 6.2% and that of Spain stood at 13.8%.

In the last year, the number of employed people increased by 1.4% and the unemployment rate dropped from 9.5% to 9.2%.

The employed population in the Basque Country grew by 13,500 people in relation to the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 1.4%. The rise in employment in the services sector stood out, with an increase of 16,800 people, followed by the construction sector, which employed 2,900 more people; on the other hand, employment in the primary sector and in industry dropped by 1,300 and 4,900 people, respectively.

The unemployment rate was down by 0.3 percentage points (from 9.5% to 9.2%), with 2,100 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the third quarter of 2018.

98.4% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria

It is estimated that there were 884,200 registered workers for the quarter on average in the Basque Country, i.e. the number of people residing in the Basque Country who were registered for Social Security at the time of the survey. Of those, the PRA estimates that 98.4% were employed, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a total of 869,800 individuals.

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 73,900 people, 7.7%, 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.

33.2% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 96,800 unemployed people registered with Lanbide, i.e. people 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, 64.6% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (62,500 people). Of the individuals unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA, 33.2% were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (32,200 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