Balearic Services sector rallies to a lead position in September

MADRID/PALMA
THE Balearic Islands is the region of Spain with the second highest increase in income in the Services sector in September in comparison with the same month in 2009, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported yesterday.

With a year-on-year increase of 3.9 percent, the Balearic Islands was beaten into second place only by the region of Cantabria where income in the Services sector last September was 6.1 percent higher than it had been in the same month in 2009.

The Islands, confirmed the Institute, is also the region where business has most increased (by 4.7 percent) throughout 2010 in comparison with 2009.
The figures for the Balearics are seen favourably against findings for the country as a whole. The INE said that figures for the Services sector in September this year were 0.3 percent less than they had been at the close of the same month in 2009.

The Institute added that for 27 months running, employment in the Services sector had been declining on a nationwide basis and that September had witnessed a further downturn of 0.6 percent.

In fact, research showed that year-on-year figures for employment in the Services sector had fallen in September this year in more than half the regions of Spain, but in the Balearics, the figure had bucked the trend and increased by 1.9 percent, the highest in the country for the month. Cantabria was in second place with 1.2 percent and La Rioja in third with 1.1 percent.

But analysed on a “year so far” basis, average employment figures in the Services sector in the Balearics have fallen by 0.5 percent.
The country's Services Sector Activity Barometer (IASS) shows that during the first nine months of the year, income was 1.4 percent higher than it was during the same period in 2009 but that employment levels in the Services sector were 1.6 percent lower.

Looking at other sectors of industry nationwide, year-on-year income in Commerce rose by 0.4 percent in September. But also within this category, business from sales and repair of vehicles shrunk by 16.1 percent in comparison with September last year.

The Institute confirmed that figures for “other services” all showed a year-on-year downward trend in September except in transport and storage where growth of 2.3 percent was registered. Employment also fell in all sectors examined by the INE except in administration and auxilary services where jobs were up by 1.2 percent.