Spain surpasses 22.3 million registered workers for the first time, after adding 232,000 in the second-best May on record

The Spanish labour market has reached a new peak: the number of people registered with Social Security has surpassed 22.3 million (22,337,806) for the first time, after adding an average of 231,975 registered workers in May, according to the original data series. This is the second-largest month-on-month increase for May since these figures began being recorded. In year-on-year terms, the increase is 553,431, a rate of 2.54%, the highest in more than two years.

"First of all, we must thank the workers and the companies for this data; but it is also the product of well-directed policies, such as the labour reform. Since its implementation, there are 2.3 million more employed people in Spain and temporary employment has fallen to 11.8%, compared to 31.1% in May 2018", explains the Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz.

We have record levels of young people and women in the workforce; also of men, self-employed workers and foreign workers. This means that Spain continues to lead in job creation among the main economies in the region. Since May 2018, there are more than 3.4 million more members," she continues.

Contributor numbers are particularly growing among women

The dynamism of employment among women, which continues to grow at a higher rate than that of men, is noteworthy. In May, 10,599,305 women were registered as employed. Specifically, there are 271,290 more women registered with Social Security than a year ago and more than 1.8 million more than in 2018. The improvement in female employment since 2018 is 20.8%, while that of men is 15.7%.

Female registered workers represent 47.5% of total employment, one percentage point more than in 2018. Their presence in the labour market is growing at an annual rate of 2.6%. At the same time, male employment is also reaching a record high, with 11,738,501 registered workers, after adding 282,141 in the last year and 1,595,887 since 2018.

The number of foreign workers in the original series stands at 3,359,548, which is 288,717 more than a year ago. Together, they account for 15% of the total.

64 consecutive months of job creation

In the seasonally adjusted series, the number of employed individuals is well above 22.1 million, which means that there are 2.3 million more registered workers since the entry into force of the labour reform, bringing the figure to 22,116,022 registered workers.

"If we discount seasonality and calendar effects, Social Security has consolidated its position above 22.1 million registered workers, after adding nearly 3.4 million workers since 2018", notes Elma Saiz.

"In addition, we see in the daily affiliation records that between 25 and 28 May, more than 22.4 million members were registered. Never before in history have there been so many workers registered". The highest level was recorded on the 28th with 22,410,242 employed individuals.

Affiliation by activity sector

Overall, average Social Security enrolment has shown a year-on-year growth of 2.8% (+508,199 contributors) in the case of the General Social Security Scheme. This percentage has been largely exceeded in some sectors of this regime such as Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing (+8.1%), Publishing, Broadcasting and Content Production and Distribution Activities (+6.8%), Construction (+5.9%), Water Supply and Sewerage (+4.9%), Arts, Sports and Entertainment Activities (+4.5%) and Transport and Storage (+4.2%).

For self-employed workers, whose total number grew by 1.3% year-on-year, significant increases were seen in Energy Supply (+17.7%), Telecommunications, Computer Programming, Consulting and IT Infrastructure (+12%), Real Estate Activities (+11.2%), and Publishing, Broadcasting and Content Production and Distribution Activities (+9.5%).

Overall, the number of self-employed workers stands at 3,460,443, which is 45,850 more than a year ago and 199,045 more than in 2018.

Greater job growth among young people and those over 55

Looking at employment trends over the last eight years reveals greater growth among older age groups, particularly those aged 55 and over, as well as among younger workers.

Employment among older people has grown by 52.8% to a total of 4.9 million, and that of workers aged 30 and under by 33.2% since 2018 (there are 3.6 million), 34.7pp and 15.1pp, respectively, above the overall figure of 18.1%.

Stability and quality of employment

Since May 2018, there has been a major shift in the types of contracts in the labour market: there are 5,776,018 more workers with permanent contracts and 2,368,992 fewer workers with temporary contracts. There are increasingly more stable jobs, with more rights and better salaries.

The largest increase is among those employed with permanent full-time contracts, with 292,885 more than a year ago; while registered workers with part-time contracts increased by 55,039.

Temporary workers now represent 11.8% of the workforce, compared to 31.1% in May 2018. This improvement is even more notable among workers aged 55 and over, whose temporary employment rate is 9.1%, down from 21% eight years ago.

The improved job quality is also evident among younger workers (under 30), whose temporary employment rate has fallen to 18.9%, compared to 54.4% in 2018. For the 30-54 age group, the rate has decreased from 27.7% to 10.5%.

Non official translation