Employment

remained stable

in the first half of the year, unaffected by uncertainty and the impact of

inflation

, with healthy growth rates for the Spanish economy, something that was also observed in the

tourism sector

, which is responsible for

half of new jobs

During last year.

Specifically, at the end of the second quarter, there were

2.95 million people employed in tourism in the

country ,

13.8% more

than in the same period of the previous year, according to data published this Monday by

Turespaña

from

EPA

information

.

Between April and June there was an increase in employment in the sector of

391,343 more employees -half

of the 776,000 gained by the Spanish economy as a whole-, which demonstrates the recovery of national and international travel and also the

anticipation of companies to equip themselves with workers before the summer season

, something that intensified compared to other years due to the

fear of not finding personnel

and that also caused a lower growth than expected in the affiliation of the month of July.

For its part,

the unemployment rate

chained five consecutive quarters of year-on-year decreases and stood at

8%

, a figure lower than that of the same period in 2019 (11%), and

4.5 points lower than the national rate, of 12 ,5%.

"The labor market continues to indicate the

strength with which the tourism sector is recovering,

which drives the economy and the national labor market. Thus, in a quarter marked by the uncertainties of the economic consequences of the war, the data reflect a excellent behavior with a

very intense and quality job creation

", the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism,

Reyes Maroto, has boasted.

The increase in employment occurred in all branches of activity linked to tourist activities, such as the

hotel industry

-which has almost recovered the level of employment prior to the pandemic and whose workforce has grown by 18.5% in year-on-year terms-, services

accommodation

( with

an increase of 54.4%) and

food and beverage

services (with an increase of 9.5%).

In

travel agencies

, the only sector that is still protected by the RED Mechanism (former ERTE), the variation was 12.6%, while in passenger transport it was 7.4%.

Jobs increased both among

employees

(19.1%) and the

self

-employed (7.9%).

Among the former,

permanent contracts grew more than temporary ones,

19.5% compared to 18.1%, but the

temporary rate

in the tourism sector was

26.4%.

By communities, hiring was concentrated in the

areas with the highest influx of travelers

such as

Catalonia, Andalusia

,

Madrid, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community,

which account for 74.5% of employment in the sector.

Jobs grew in all regions, except in La Rioja, Ceuta and Melilla, Asturias and Extremadura.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

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  • Kings Maroto

  • Canary Islands

  • ERTE

  • Employment

  • Tourism