Press Release 21/10/2022

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. III/2022

The number of people in work rose by 4,100 and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.9% in the third quarter of 2022 in the Basque Country

In the last year there were 19,600 more people in work and 9,500 fewer people unemployed

Data from the third quarter of 2022 on the labour market in the Basque Country showed 4,100 more people in work and 6,800 fewer unemployed people than in the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. There were an estimated 82,400 unemployed people this quarter and the figure for people in work stood at 967,200, 0.4% more than in the second quarter of 2022. In contrast, in the last year there were 19,600 more people in work and 9,500 fewer people unemployed.

The unemployment rate for the Basque Country stood at 7.9%, 6 percentage points down on the second quarter of 2022. As a result of the evolution in the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate stood at 56.2% in the third quarter of 2022, down two tenths on the previous quarter. In the last year, the unemployment rate fell by 8.8% in the second quarter of 2021 and 7.9% in the second quarter of 2022, down 0.9 percentage points.

By province and compared to the previous quarter, Bizkaia saw 4,800 more people employed, Gipuzkoa 200 and Álava 800. Regarding the capitals, in Bilbao there were 5,000 more people in work; however, employment fell by 300 people in San Sebastián and by 1,200 in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The highest rise in employment was among men (+2,100), whilst there were 2,000 more women in work. With regards to nationality, the number of foreign nationals in work rose by 4,700 (+5.8%), whilst the number of Spanish nationals in work fell by 500 (-0.1%).

Employment increased across all sectors

The employed population in the Basque Country rose by 1,800 people (+24.3%) in the Primary sector and by 900 (+0.5%) in the Industry sector. The Services sector saw an increase of 800 people (+0.1%) and there were 700 more people employed in the Construction sector (+1.2%).

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, standing at 69.9%. This figure reached 73.3% for men and 66.6% for women.

With regard to level of education completed, the employment rate increased by 0.9 percentage points among people with secondary or intermediate education, standing at 62.4%. However, the employment rate among people who had completed higher education fell by 0.4 points, standing at 85.5%, and among those educated to primary school level or lower, it fell by 0.5 points to stand at 60.2%.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded amongst Spanish nationals, at 71.3%, the same as in the previous quarter, whereas for foreign nationals it stood at 58.3% (+2.5 percentage point).

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate, at 71.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Álava came second with 69.2% and a decrease of half a percentage point; and, lastly, in Bizkaia, the employment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to stand at 69%.

The number of households with all active individuals out of work fell by 1,400

In the third quarter of 2022 it was estimated that there were 902,400 households in the Basque Country, of which a third did not have any active individuals, 1,600 fewer households than in the previous quarter. In almost six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 5,300 more families; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 29,000, 1,400 fewer households than in the previous quarter.

The third quarter of 2022 revealed an unemployment rate of 7.9%, 0.6 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 82,400 in the third quarter of the year, 6,800 down on the previous quarter. The number of unemployed women, 42,000 individuals, decreased by 2,400, whilst the number of unemployed men saw a drop of 4,400, reaching a total of 40,400 for the quarter.

The data for the third quarter of 2022 revealed an unemployment rate of 7.9%, 0.6 percentage points down on the previous quarter. The unemployment rate for men dropped 0.8 percentage points, to 7.4% and the unemployment rate for women stood at 8.3% (-0.5 percentage points).

As regards the level of education, the largest employment rate decrease was among people whose highest level of education completed was secondary and intermediate education, by -1.8 percentage points, the unemployment rate standing at 9.2%. For people who had completed primary school level and lower, the unemployment rate fell by 0.6 percentage points to 11.1%. Lastly, the unemployment rate among people who had higher education rose by 0.5 percentage points to 4.9%.

With regards to nationality, the unemployed population figure decreased among Spanish nationals by 4,900, to 64,400. Among foreign nationals it fell by 1,900, to 18,000 people out of work.

By province, the number of people out of work in Bizkaia fell by 5,500, and the unemployment rate dropped by one percentage point, standing at 8.3%. In Álava, with 13,200 people out of work, the number of unemployed people fell by 1,200 and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 8.4%. In Gipuzkoa, the number of unemployed people fell by 100 and the unemployment rate stood at 6.9%, dropping one tenth compared to the previous quarter.

As regards the capitals, there were 3,500 fewer unemployed people in Bilbao and 900 fewer in Vitoria-Gasteiz: however, in San Sebastian unemployment remained the same as in the previous quarter.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in August 2022 the deseasonalised unemployment rate of the European Union as a whole stood at 6% and that of Spain stood at 12.4%.

Over the last year, the number of employed people increased by 2.1% and the unemployment rate dropped from 8.8% to 7.9%.

The employed population in the Basque Country increased by 2.1% in relation to the third quarter of 2021, 19,600 more people in work, and the unemployment rate decreased by 0.9 percentage points (from 8.8% to 7.9%), with 9,500 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the third quarter of 2021.

96.8% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria

It is calculated that there were 918,400 registered workers for the quarter on average in the Basque Country, i.e. the number of individuals resident in the Basque Country who were registered for Social Security, weighted by the number of days worked in the quarter. Of those, the PRA estimates that 96.8% were employed, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a total of 888,700 individuals.

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 38,400 people, 4%, 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.

35.2% of those unemployed were not registered as unemployed with the Basque Employment Institute (Lanbide)

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 94,200 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, 52.9% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (49,800 people). 35.2% of people unemployed according to the ILO definition in the PRA were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (29,000 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