Spain's unemployment rate, already high, rose to 14.4% of the working population in the first quarter, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Institute of statistics (INE). At the end of December, unemployment reached 13.8%, the worst score in the euro zone after Greece.
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A number still underestimated
The destruction of jobs in the first quarter is particularly strong in services, tourism, pillar of the Spanish economy, being hit hard by the containment decreed on March 14. The total number of unemployed reaches 3.31 million people, an increase of 121,000 people, but the INE emphasizes that "it is likely that many workers who lost their jobs were classified as inactive" because the conditions of the 'usual statistical survey were disrupted by containment.
The number of unemployed would therefore be underestimated because the number of "inactive", ie people not looking for work, increased by 257,500 during the first quarter. The number of employed workers (having worked at least one hour during the reference week) knows "its biggest fall since 2013", with 285,600 jobs destroyed, explains the INE.
A jump of up to 20.8% in 2020
But "this figure does not take into account the employees affected by a partial unemployment plan", considered as employed when the partial unemployment is less than three months. However, according to the government, 3.9 million Spaniards are currently partially unemployed due to the confinement decreed on March 14. At least 275,900 jobs were lost in services, 9,100 in agriculture and 6,200 in construction, details the INE.
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The left-wing coalition government of Pedro Sanchez has simplified access to short-time working plans and banned layoffs during the confinement, hoping to lessen the expected severe impact on employment. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that the unemployment rate could jump to 20.8% in 2020 in Spain, while the Bank of Spain expects 18.3% to 21.7% of unemployment depending on the duration containment.