lunes, 29 de octubre de 2012

A WEEK TO FORGET

This week different reports have seen the light of the day showing that Spain has broken historical records (all negatives).  Last entry we addressed the issue of the Living Conditions Survey 2012. Today we’ll focus our attention on the Labour Force Survey (EPA, in Spanish) corresponding to third quarterly of the current year. We’ll stress the main findings and then we’ll try to reflect on them.

First of all, the EPA is one of the most rigorous surveys in Spain and the only accredited by the EU in relation to unemployment.

For the first time in history unemployment rose above 25% (25’02%). That means 5.778.100 unemployed people, 3’2 million more than five years ago. 96.000 employments were lost in the last quarterly, half of them in the public sector (direct outcome of budgetary cuts). Men and people between 25 – 35 years old are the most affected by job destruction.  The number of fixed-term and part-time contracts grows up meanwhile permanent contracts decrease. There are 1.737.900 homes wich all of households members are unemployed. Unemployment is expected to rise next year.

And now, some comments on unemployment figures. Since 2010 both socialist and people’s parties agrees that labour market was the most important Spanish problem. High unemployment rates or temporary contracts were supposed to be the obvious symptoms of an inefficient labour market.  So in both cases they decided to reform labour market laws making easier and cheaper redundancies, reducing salaries, undermining collective bargaining, increasing the power of employers and weakening union’s competences, setting new precarious contracts…  The outcome of all theses measures is in the last EPA: more unemployment and more precarious jobs and an uncover result: the ongoing transfer from labour incomes to capital incomes.

By the way! A new record to take into account: more than 1.200 demonstrations have taken place in Madrid in the first nine months of 2012.

Unemployed people - unemployment rate - homes wich all of households members are unemployed

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