Spain: Unemployment rate stable in fourth quarter of 2023
The jobless rate remained stable at Q3’s 11.8% in the fourth quarter. In absolute terms, the number of unemployed workers decreased by 24,600 people to 2.8 million in Q4.
That said, jobs were shed in Q4. The services sector shed jobs (-123,400), while the industrial (+4,900), construction (+30,700) and agricultural (+68,800) sectors added jobs. Overall, a total of 19,000 jobs were lost from the prior quarter. For its part, the workforce fell by 43,600 people in Q4 to a total of 24.1 million.
Commenting on the release, Wouter Thierie, economist at ING, stated:
“We expect the unemployment rate to continue to hover around these historically low rates in 2024. In the first months of this year, slowing job creation and labour force growth due to strong immigration flows may put some upward pressure on the unemployment rate. But on the other hand, accelerating economic growth will keep the labour market tight.”