Press Release 23/01/2020

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. IV/2019

The unemployment rate stood at 9.3%, and the employment rate was down 1% in the fourth quarter of 2019 in the Basque Country

In the final quarter of the year, the year-on-year unemployment rate dropped one percentage point, from 10.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 9.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Basque Country labour market data for the fourth quarter of 2019 showed a figure of 945,500 individuals in work, which is a decrease of 9,600 compared to the previous quarter (-1%), according to Eustat data. There were an estimated 97,100 people out of work in the Basque Country in the fourth quarter of the year, unchanged in respect of the previous quarter. As a result, the highest growth this quarter in the Basque Country was in respect of the inactive population, which increased by 11,200 to stand at 797,400.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 9.3%, 0.1 percentage points up on the third quarter of 2019. As a result of the change in the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate was 56.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, 0.6 percentage points below that of the previous quarter.

By province and compared to the previous quarter, Bizkaia experienced the biggest fall in employment, with 8,300 fewer people in work; followed by Gipuzkoa, with a decrease of 2,100, whilst in Álava there were 800 more employed people. With regards to the capitals, San Sebastián was the capital with the biggest fall in employment, with 1,200 fewer people in work, followed by Bilbao with 1,000 fewer; on the other hand, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, there were 1,400 more employed people.

In terms of gender, the decrease in the number of people in work most affected men, with 5,700 fewer in work than the previous quarter, whilst the number of women in work fell by 3,900.

With regards to nationality, the number of Spanish nationals in work was down by 10,600, whilst the number of foreign nationals in work increased by 1,000.

Employment fell across all sectors

The employed population in the Basque Country was down by 5,400 in the services sector, by 2,100 in the construction sector, by 1,800 in agriculture and by 400 in industry.

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, fell by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 68.6%. This figure reached 72.2% for men and 65.1% for women.

With regards to the level of education completed, the employment rate decreased by 1.9 percentage points among people who had completed secondary education, reaching 60.6%; it rose by 0.2 percentage points (83.8%) among those who had completed higher education, and the employment rate among people educated to primary school level or lower increased by 0.8 percentage points, standing at 61%.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, with 69.6%, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 59%.

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 70.9%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 70.6% and a decrease of 0.6 points, and in Bizkaia, the employment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to stand at 66.7%.

The number of households with all active individuals in work rose by 5,000

In the fourth quarter of 2019 it was estimated that there were 893,800 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, 5,000 families fewer than in the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 29,900, 1,800 households more than the previous quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.3%, 0.1 percentage points more 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 fourth quarter of the year, unchanged in respect of the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 46,100, was down by 1,300, whilst the number of unemployed women increased by 1,200, reaching a total of 51,000 for the quarter.

The data for the fourth quarter of 2019 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.3%, 0.1 percentage points more than the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate stood at 8.5% (down 0.1 percentage points) and the female rate was up 0.3 percentage points, reaching 10.2%. By age, the youth unemployment rate continued to be the highest, standing at 22.4%, an increase of 2.3 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 primary education or higher education with a fall of 0.8 and 0.4 percentage points, reaching 13.2% and 5.6% respectively. In contrast, the unemployment rate for people who had completed secondary education increased by 1.2 percentage points, reaching 10.9%.

Unemployment was down among foreign nationals (900 fewer than in the previous quarter), the number of unemployed people standing at 20,400, whereas among Spanish nationals unemployment has increased by 800, the number of unemployed people standing at 76,700.

By province, there were 500 fewer people out of work in Álava, where the unemployment rate stood at 9.8%, 0.4 percentage points down on the previous quarter. In contrast, in Bizkaia, which has 56,700 people out of work, unemployment rose by 100 and the unemployment rate by 0.1 percentage points, reaching 10.5%; in Gipuzkoa unemployment rose by 400 people compared to the previous quarter and the unemployment rate was up 0.1 percentage points, standing at 7.1%.

As regards the capitals, unemployment was down in all of them: by 2,100 people in Bilbao, 1,000 in Vitoria-Gasteiz and 900 in San Sebastián.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in November 2019 the unemployment rate of the European Union-28 stood at 6.3% and that of Spain stood at 14.1%.

In the last year, the number of employed people increased by 0.9% and the unemployment rate dropped from 10.3% to 9.3%.

The employed population in the Basque Country grew by 8,100 people in relation to the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of 0.9%. The unemployment rate was down 1 percentage point (from 10.3% to 9.3%), with 10,200 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.

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

It is estimated that there were 878,600 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 864,400 individuals.

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 67,900 people, 7.2%, 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.

32.2% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 96,900 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, 63.7% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (61,800 people). Of the individuals unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA, 32.2% were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (31,300 individuals), even though they may be registered under other categories of job seekers.

ANNUAL BALANCE 2019

In 2019, on average, there were 11,100 more people in work, and 7,200 fewer unemployed people and the average unemployment rate was 9.6%, seven tenths down on the 2018 average.

Basque Country labour market data for 2019 showed an improvement in employment and a reduction in the number of people out of work. Specifically, the average number of employed people rose up 11,100 and the number of unemployed people fell by 7,200, on average.

This increase is employment occurred in the case of both men (+6,100) and women (+5,100) and in the three provinces: there were 1,700 more people in work in Álava, 4,000 more in Bizkaia and 5,300 more in Gipuzkoa.

The reduction in the number of people out of work, on average, stood at 4,700 among men and 2,500 among women, whereas in the provinces it varied between the 700 fewer unemployed people in Álava and the 4,100 fewer in Bizkaia, whereas in Gipuzkoa there were 2,400 fewer people out of work.

With these average evolutions in the numbers of employed and unemployed people, the average unemployment rate in the Basque Country stood at 9.6%, seven tenths down on the previous year. Gipuzkoa boasts a below average unemployment rate of 7.2%, seven tenths down on the previous year and the other two provinces exceed the average: Álava with 10.3% was five tenths down on the previous year, and Bizkaia had an unemployment rate of 10.9%, a reduction of seven tenths compared to the previous year.

The average activity rate in 2019, 56.6%, was practically unchanged in respect of the previous year, with few changes in the case of both men and women; for men it improved by 1 percentage point, standing at 61.6%, and for women it remained unchanged at 52.0% on average in 2019.

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