Press Release 22/01/2021

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. IV/2020

The unemployment rate stood at 11.2%, and the working population increased by 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020 in the Basque Country

The population working in services, industry and the primary sector grew, whereas it declined in the construction sector

Basque Country labour market data for the fourth quarter of 2020 showed a figure of 930,500 individuals in work, which is an increase of 14,200 compared to the previous quarter (+1.5%), according to Eustat data. There were an estimated 116,900 people out of work in the Basque Country in the fourth quarter of the year, 15,100 more than in the previous quarter.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 11.2%, 1.2 percentage points up on the third quarter of 2020. As a result of the evolution in the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate stood at 56.1% in the fourth quarter of 2020, rising 1.6 points in respect of the previous quarter.

By province and compared to the previous quarter, Álava experienced the biggest rise in employment, with 6,700 more people in work; followed by Bizkaia, with 4,100 more, whilst in Gipuzkoa the number of employed people increased by 3,500. Regarding the capitals, in Vitoria-Gasteiz there were 5,500 more employed people, in San Sebastián 1,400 more and in Bilbao 200 more.

As far as gender was concerned, the rise in employment affected women the most, with 12,500 more women in work than in the previous quarter, whilst the number of men in work increased by 1,700.

With regards to nationality, the number of Spanish nationals in work was up by 10,500, whilst the number of foreign nationals in work increased by 3,700.

Employment increased mainly in services

The working population in the Basque Country increased by 13,800 in the Services sector, 1,200 in Industry and 100 in the Primary Sector; in contrast, the number of people employed in the Construction sector fell by 800.

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 66.9%. This figure reached 69.3% for men and 64.5% for women.

With regards to the level of education completed, the employment rate increased by 2.7 percentage points among people who had completed primary school level and lower. The employment rate also increased – by 1.3 percentage points – among people who had completed higher education, reaching 83.1%. However, among people with secondary and intermediate education it fell by 0.2 percentage points to 57.4%.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, with 68.5%, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 52.6%.

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 68.8%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 68.5% and an increase of 3.2 percentage points; and in Bizkaia, the employment rate rose by 0.9 percentage points to stand at 65.3%.

The number of households with all active individuals out of work increased by 4,700

In the fourth quarter of 2020 it was estimated that there were 899,900 households in the Basque Country, of which a third did not have any active individuals. In almost six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 3,600 families fewer than in the previous quarter; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 36,400, 4,700 households more than the previous quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2020 revealed an unemployment rate of 11.2%, 1.2 percentage points more than the previous quarter

The unemployed population in the Basque Country, that is, people who are available for work, actively making enquiries and seeking employment, was estimated to be 116,900 in the fourth quarter of the year, 15,100 more than in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 62,600, was up by 11,500, whilst the number of unemployed women rose by 3,700, reaching a total of 54,300 for the quarter.

The data for the fourth quarter of 2020 revealed an unemployment rate of 11.2%, 1.2 percentage points more than the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate stood at 11.5% (up 1.9 percentage points) and the female rate was up 0.4 percentage points, reaching 10.8%.

As regards the level of education, the largest employment rate increase was among people whose highest level of education completed was secondary and intermediate education, up 1.9 percentage points, the unemployment rate standing at 14.1%. For people who had completed primary school level and lower, the unemployment rate increased by 1.2 points to 14%. Lastly, the unemployment rate among people who had completed higher education rose by 0.7 percentage points to 7.2%.

With regards to nationality, the unemployed population figure increased among Spanish nationals by 11,700, standing at 87,900. Among foreign nationals unemployment increased by 3,500 to stand at 29,000 people out of work.

By province, Gipuzkoa saw the greatest increase in unemployment, with 9,400 more people out of work and the unemployment rate was up 2.5 percentage points, reaching 9.4%. In Bizkaia, with 68,300 people out of work, the number of unemployed rose by 7,600 and the unemployment rate increased by 1.2 percentage points to 12.6%. In Álava, there were 1,900 fewer people out of work and the unemployment rate stood at 10.1%, 1.6 percentage points down on the previous quarter.

As regards the capitals, unemployment increased in San Sebastián and Bilbao by 2,700 and 2,500 people, respectively, while in Vitoria-Gasteiz it dropped 1,700.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in November 2020 the deseasonalised unemployment rate of the European Union as a whole stood at 7.5% and that of Spain stood at 16.4%.

In the last year, the number of employed people decreased by 2% and the unemployment rate rose from 9.5% to 11.2%

The employed population in the Basque Country decreased in relation to the fourth quarter of 2019 by 2% and the unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points (from 9.5% to 11.2%), with 17,400 being added to the unemployment figures of the Basque Country, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

98.6% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria

It is estimated that there were 866,000 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 98.6% were employed, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a total of 853,700 individuals.

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 65,900 people, 7.1%, 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 because they are in other situations.

31.7% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 110,300 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, 66.6% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (73,500 people). 31.7% of people unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (37,000 people), even though they may be registered under other categories of job seekers.

Repercussions of COVID-19 on the labour market in the Basque Country

Population data in relation to activity in the fourth quarter of 2020 have been conditioned by COVID-19 and the measures restricting activity established by the Public Administrations.

The figures obtained regarding the working population and the employment rate are conditioned by the massive use of certain resources, such as temporary layoff measures known as ERTEs (Temporary Labour Force Adjustment Plans), which affect the activity, but not necessarily the status of the population in relation to the same. In fact, the vast majority (98.5%) of people who are subject to an ERTE and do not work in the week of reference remain employed because they are expected to return to work in at least 3 months or are continuing to receive more than 50% of their salary. Other palliative mechanisms affect self-employed workers, but equally do not necessarily alter their relationship with the activity.

The PRA is an ongoing survey, which enables an analysis by months and even by the 13 weeks across which our sample is evenly distributed in the fourth quarter. This, together with the amount of information gathered, allows us to obtain additional information for carrying out a better assessment of the situation of the Basque labour market. The information gathered regarding the work status of every person surveyed refers to the week that by sampling design corresponds to them.

The percentage of the employed population not in work in the week of reference in the fourth quarter was 4.6 points higher than that in the fourth quarter of 2019

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of employed people on ERTEs in the Basque Country was estimated at 34,400, of whom there were 5,900 in Álava, 16,900 in Bizkaia and 11,600 in Gipuzkoa.

The analysis of the evolution of the percentage of employed people who have not worked in the reference week gives relevant results. In the fourth quarter of this year, the percentage was higher than in the fourth quarter of previous years: while in previous years it was between 8.1% and 10.9%, in the fourth quarter of 2020 it reached 15.5%.

Analysing the trends in the different characteristics of seeking work that determine whether a person is unemployed or inactive, a decrease was observed across all categories. The most significant was that of people who claim to be seeking work but are not available for work (-12,600), followed by people who are not seeking work, which fell by 6,800, and, lastly, people who are seeking work but are not taking active steps to do so (-5,000) and those who are not taking active steps and are not available for work (-4,000). All of this has resulted in a decrease in the inactive population.

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