January has always historically been one of the worst months for employment in Spain, and this year is no different. The end of the Christmas season and restrictions due to outbreaks of Covid have had their affect on the job market, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
They announced yesterday that unemployment in the Canary Islands increased by 9,793 people in January, which raises the number of unemployed in the Islands to 279,230 people, 3.63% more than the month before. In the last year, the number of unemployed has gone up in the Archipelago by 68,066 people, which in percentage terms is an increase of 32.23%.
By province, it grew more in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, increasing in January by 5,097 unemployed (+ 3.93%), now registering a total of 134,793 people out of work, while in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria it increased by 4,696 people (+3.36%) making a total of 144,437 unemployed.
More women are unemployed in the islands, currently 151,726 compared to 127,504 men, and those under 25 years old are the biggest age group out of work with 23,300 unemployed.
As for the sectors that account for the most unemployed in the Canary Islands, this negative data is still led by the services sector, which includes tourism, due to its weight in the Archipelago, in such a way that in the last month it added another 8,512 unemployed and currently accounts for 214,028 of the total in the islands.
After the services sector, the number of unemployed in construction is a long way behind, accumulating 25,804, after adding 422 unemployed in the first month of the year. This is followed by people without previous employment, who account for 23,529 unemployed, registering 590 more in January.
Finally, the sectors that added the least in January were industry and agriculture, with 218 and 51 more unemployed, respectively, so that they currently have a total of 10,114 and 5,755 unemployed.
Regarding contracting, the Canary Islands registered 33,340 agreements in January, in such a way that there was a monthly decrease of 5,326 contracts (-13.77%), while in the annual data the fall was 32,071 agreements (-49.03% ). Thus, of the total contracts that were produced in the Archipelago, 4,594 were permanent, which is 316 more than a month ago (+ 7.39%), while 28,746 were temporary, producing in this case a monthly decrease of 5,642 agreements (-16.41%).
Likewise, Social Security in the Canary Islands lost 12,349 contributors in January, which has meant a decrease of 1.58% with respect to the previous month, in such a way that the system currently has 769,335 members in the Archipelago.
The system has lost 46,465 affiliates in the Islands in one year, which in percentage terms has meant a decrease of 5.70% compared to January 2020. By regimes, in the Archipelago the General continues to be the one with the most affiliates, with 634,949, followed by the self-employed, with 128,588, and maritime workers, with 5,799.
