Spain creates almost 570,000 jobs in first half of the year | Sur in English

Spain has created more than 567,000 jobs in the first six months of this year, the latest data shows.

The figures which extend up to 15 June are slightly lower than in 2023, when 600,000 new jobs were created. But minister for social security Elma Saiz said they were still strong numbers. After exceeding 21.1 million contributors for the first time last month, the social security office now exceeds 21.3 million on average for the first time, while the 21.4 million mark was exceeded on several days in June.

“It is a figure to celebrate, but we are not going to stop until we achieve full employment,” Saiz said, referring to the electoral promise made by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez who pledged to achieve full employment in Spain and reduce the unemployment rate to 8%, although now it is still close to 12% and forecasts are not very optimistic it will be achieved in the next three years.

The minister also pointed out positive data on the enrolment of women (10.1 million up to mid-June), foreigners, young people and the self-employed, as well as the quality of the jobs created, with 87% of workers being permanent.

The information and communication; professional, scientific and technical sectors increased their job creation by more than 4% since the start of the year (compared to an average of 2.8%) and have more workers than the hotel and catering sector (81,000 compared to 73,000). As of 15 June, there are more than 14 million employed people with permanent contracts, of which more than 9.6 million work full time. That is 3.65 million more workers (3,655,393) with permanent contracts since the approval of the country’s labour reform.