[ad_1]
Unemployment in Spain fell sharply in the second quarter, helped by tourism, large supplier of seasonal contracts, while the new socialist government has promised a "shock plan" against precarious employment.
Between April and June, the unemployment rate fell to 15.3%, compared with 16.7% in the previous quarter, according to official data published on Thursday.
The number of unemployed reached 3.49 million people, 300,000 less than at the end of March in the fourth economy of the euro area.
But Spain, which has just followed three years of GDP growth above 3%, unemployment remains the worst pupil in the European Union, after Greece.
The good result of the second quarter corresponds to the beginning of the high season in the tourism, one of the main drivers of job creation in recent years in the country, becoming in 2017 the second world tourist destination after France.
The regions that benefit the most from the improvement in employment are Elsewhere the most popular visitors: Balearic Islands, Andalusia and Catalonia.
But the tourism sector is also large provider of precarious jobs and Spain holds the record in Europe of the proportion of employees on temporary contracts, despite the dynamism of its economic growth (+ 2.7% expected in 2017)
– 1 contract out of 3 is temporary –
The union UGT, one of the main ones of the country, besides immediately qualified the good figures of the second quarter.
"Despite these data, the figures also show that the phase of economic expansion in Spain has been fueled by low-quality employment," he denounced in a statement.
Nearly 27% of Spanish employees are thus employed on temporary contracts, a figure which is higher than in the first quarter.
And those of tourism are subject to the possible fluctuations of the conjuncture: the professionals of the sector estimate that the activity could suffer soon from the return in favor of destinations like Egypt and Turkey, the impact of the increase of the price of oil on the price of air tickets or the effects of air strikes planned this summer.
The UGT also calls on the government to revitalize the industry, believing that the reduction of unemployment can not be based " only on the services. "
The head of the new socialist government, Pedro Sanchez, in power since early June after overthrowing his conservative predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, promised a" change of direction in employment policies developed since The reform of the work of 2012. "
This flagship reform of the conservatives is seen by its promoters as the element that allowed the sharp decline in unemployment in Spain since early 2013, where he was close to 27%. But critics say it has greatly precarious employment.
"We will start this summer shock plans against fraud on unjustified temporary contracts and abusive part-time employment", a- he promised in his general policy speech in mid-July, but the concrete measures have not yet been announced.
M. Sanchez has also promised measures against very high youth unemployment (nearly 35% of under-25s), notably to avoid recourse to abusive internships.
To improve youth employment, the Circle of Entrepreneurs, lobbying group of large Spanish companies listed on the stock market, recently advocated for an improvement of vocational training, saying that "early school leaving, an inefficient career guidance and disconnection between the education system and the entrepreneurial fabric" were at the heart of problem.
Source link
