Unemployment in the Balearics continues to fall.

Unemployment in the Balearics continues to fall. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma02/03/2018 00:00
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At the end of February there were 59,381 unemployed in the Balearics. This was 3,338 fewer than in January. The percentage decrease of 5.3% was the highest among the regions of Spain. There was also a 6.68% reduction (4,249 fewer) compared with February 2017. This was slightly lower than a year-on-year decrease of 7.48% nationwide. The unemployment rate of 12.3% was the lowest for a February for ten years.

In terms of people coming off the unemployment register, Catalonia recorded the most (3,482) in February, closely followed by the Balearics. In all, unemployment fell in eleven regions. Of the six where it increased, Andalusia registered the highest number - 7,473 more unemployed.

By sector in the Balearics, by far the greatest fall in unemployment was in services (3,208 fewer). This decrease may well indicate greater and earlier activity in the tourism industry. The number of new job contracts was 32,510; these were up by 2,290 over January and by 2,065 compared with February last year. The bulk of these contracts - 26,316 - were for temporary employment, but the number of permanent contracts was up by just over 20% (1,056 more) compared with January and by 22.2% over February 2017.

Nationally, there were 3,470,248 unemployed at the end of last month, the lowest figure for nine years.