Unemployment in the Balearics rises but doesn't everywhere

The actual number of unemployed, as of November, was 77,187.

The seasonality effect is the principal and obvious reason for a month-to-month rise in the island’s unemployment, because of so many tourism businesses shutting at the end of October. Nevertheless, this increased unemployment was not mirrored in certain other regions of the country noted for their “sun and beach” tourism industry. In Andalusia (with the Costa del Sol), unemployment fell by almost 18,000 and it was also down in Valencia (including the Costa Blanca and Benidorm), though less significantly - by 9,800. The community of Madrid, less susceptible to seasonality, also registered a drop in unemployment, one of over 4,500. The only part of Spain other than the Balearics which registered a noticeable rise in November unemployment was Galicia, though there it was less than a third of the Balearic total. In all, ten of Spain’s regions registered a drop in unemployment compared with October, thus placing the Balearics in the minority where it went up.

In addition, the national unemployment figure was down on both counts: comparison with November 2014 and this October. The annual rate (over 350,000 fewer unemployed) was the highest drop since the current system of employment data was started. By comparison with October, the decline was close to 50,000, bucking a trend by which national unemployment has risen each November in the previous eight years by over 50,000.

For the record, the national unemployment figure for November was 4,149,298.