Press Release 22/04/2022

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. I/2022

The number of people in work rose by 8,300 and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.1% in the first quarter of 2022 in the Basque Country

In the last year there were 28,600 more people in work and 19,200 fewer people unemployed

Data from the first quarter of 2022 on the labour market in the Basque Country showed 8,300 more people in work and 8,300 fewer unemployed people than in the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. There were an estimated 95,200 unemployed people this quarter and the figure for people in work stood at 953,800, 0.9% more than in the fourth quarter of 2021. In contrast, in the last year there were 28,600 more people in work and 19,200 fewer people unemployed.

The unemployment rate of the Basque Country stood at 9.1%, 8 percentage points down on the fourth quarter of 2021. As a result of the evolution in the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate stood at 56.3% in the first quarter of 2022, remaining stable with respect to the previous quarter. In the last year, the unemployment rate fell by 11% in the first quarter of 2021 and 9.1% in the first quarter of 2022, down 1.9 percentage points.

By province and in respect of the previous quarter, in Gipuzkoa there were 6,200 more employed people and in Bizkaia 5,100; in contrast, in Álava there were 3,000 fewer people in work. With regards to the capitals, Bilbao was the capital with the greatest increase in employment, with 3,500 more employed people, followed by San Bilbao (+1,100) and, finally, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, there were 2,600 fewer people in work.

The highest rise in employment was among men (+5,800), whilst there were 2,400 more women in work. With regards to nationality, the number of Spanish nationals in work increased by 5,300 (+0.6%), whilst the number of foreign nationals in work rose by 3,100(+4%).

Employment increased across all sectors

The employed population in the Basque Country was up by 5,500 (+0.8%) in the Services sector, by 1,400 (+17.5%) in the Primary Sector, by 800 in the Construction sector (+1.4%) and by 700 in Industry(+0.4%).

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 69%. This figure reached 72.4% for men and 65.7% for women.

With regard to level of education completed, the greatest increase in the employment rate was recorded among people with higher education (more than one percentage point), standing at 84.2%. For those educated to primary school level or lower, the employment rate rose by 0.8 points to 60.3%. Lastly, the employment rate among people with secondary or intermediate education increased by 0.3 points to stand at 61.3%.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, with 70.8% and an increase of 0.6 percentage points in respect of the previous quarter, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 54.5% (up 1 percentage point).

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 71.1%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 68.5% and a decrease of 1.5 points; and, lastly, in Bizkaia, the employment rate rose by 0.7 percentage points to stand at 67.9%.

The number of households with all active individuals out of work fell by 5,700

In the first quarter of 2022 it was estimated that there were 902,000 households in the Basque Country, of which a third did not have any active individuals, 3,900 fewer households than in the previous quarter. In almost six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 600 more families; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 32,200, 5,700 fewer households than in the previous quarter.

The first quarter of 2022 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.1%, 0.8 points down on 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 95,200 in the first quarter of the year, 8,300 down on the previous quarter. The number of unemployed men, 46,500, fell by 4,900 (-9.5%), whilst the number of unemployed women was down by 3,400 (-6.5%), reaching a total of 48,700 for the quarter.

The data for the first quarter of 2022 revealed an unemployment rate of 9.1%, 0.8 percentage points down on the previous quarter. The male unemployment rate stood at 8.5% (-0.9 percentage points) and the female rate was also down 0.6 percentage points, reaching 9.7%.

As regards the level of education, the largest unemployment rate decrease was among people whose highest level of education completed was higher education (-1.5 percentage points), the unemployment rate standing at 5.2%. For people who had had completed primary school education or lower, the unemployment rate fell by 0.7 percentage points to stand at 12.8%. Lastly, the unemployment rate among people with secondary and intermediate education decreased by 0.2 percentage points to stand at 11.1%.

With regards to nationality, the unemployed population figure decreased among Spanish nationals by 6,300, to 72,100. Among foreign nationals it fell by 1,900, to 23,100 people out of work.

By province, in Bizkaia, the number of people out of work fell by 7,000 and the unemployment rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points, standing at 10%. In Gipuzkoa, with 24,000 people out of work, the number of unemployed was down 2,400 and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 7%. In Álava, there were 1,100 more people out of work and the unemployment rate reached 10.4%, 0.8 percentage points up on the previous quarter.

As regards the capitals, there were 6,200 fewer people out of work in Bilbao and 400 fewer in San Sebastián, whereas in Vitoria-Gasteiz unemployment increased by 1,400 in the first quarter of the year.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in February 2022 the deseasonalised unemployment rate of the European Union as a whole stood at 6.2% and that of Spain stood at 12.6%.

Over the last year, the number of employed people increased by 3.1% and the unemployment rate dropped from 11% to 9.1%.

The employed population in the Basque Country increased by 3.1% in relation to the first quarter of 2021, 28,600 more people in work, and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.9 percentage points (from 11% to 9.1%), with 19,200 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the first quarter of 2021.

98.5% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria

It is estimated that there were 921,300 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 98.5% were employed, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a total of 907,400 individuals.

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 41,100 people, 4.3%, were not registered in the Social Security system, because they belonged to public mutual societies for civil servants, or because they were in other situations.

34.9% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 98,300 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, 60.8% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (59,800 people). 34.9% of people unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (33,200 people), even though they may have been 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.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62