Employment boost in Balearics

The Islands are also being highlighte d by Central Government researchers in a survey on levels of employment, as one of the regions of the country where the dole queue shortened the most during the third quarter, in the case of the Balearics by 5'900 people.

The region also appears to be faring better than many other parts of Spain as the 505'900 people who are gainfully employed in the Islands comprise 67.95 percent of the active population.

It is also a positive feature of the Balearics, said researchers, that it is the region of the country where the most first time employees have managed to find jobs.

Considered jointly, said the Employment Survey, the number of people inwork in the Balearics rose by 5.96 percent during the third quarter in comparison with the second quarter running through April, May and June. The decline in the unemployment rate from July to September in comparison with the previous quarter stands at 5.11 percent statistics confirmed.

The scenario is not so optimistic for the country as whole where during the third quarter of this year, 144'700 more people registered as unemployed, contributing to the total dole queue of almost five million, more than a fifth of the active population of the country. According to the research which was released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the figures constitute a new record in terms of unemployment, the highest rate of numbers of people out of work since 1996 when 21.60 percent of the working population were jobless.

The number of homes where all members of the household of working age were jobless in the third quarter stood at 1'425'200, 57'700 more than in the second quarter of the year. Even though there were 9'058'300 homes where all members were employed during the third quarter, the figure had nevertheless come down by 102'700 from the previous three months. Meanwhile the number of people who are classed as long-term employed (those who lost their jobs more than a year ago) is on the increase across the country. The figure rose during the third quarter this year by 40'700 meaning the number of people in this category now stands at 2'117'300.

However, what is clearly a demoralising situation has a much better perspective when compared with national unemployment rates a year ago. There were 78'800 more women unemployed at a national level during the third quarter this year than during the previous quarter and 65'800 more men but the unemployment growth rate in the third quarter of 2010 compared to the second quarter was 209'800 women and 193'800 men.