04.06.2014 - 09:51
Registered unemployment in Catalonia fell to 592,304 people at the end of May 2014: the first time the figure has gone below the 600,000 mark since August 2011. According to figures released on Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security, between May 2013 and May 2014, registered unemployment dropped by 7.76%, a decrease of 49,862 people. In only one month, from April to May, unemployment decreased by 19,518 people, a 3.19% drop. This was the greatest monthly decrease recorded in May for 18 years. Furthermore, Catalonia also experienced the greatest fall in unemployment of any Autonomous Community in the Spanish State in May, followed by the Region of Madrid.
Unemployment went down by 19,518 between April and May, the biggest drop in 18 years
Unemployment fell for the first time in nearly three years to below 600,000 people, after four consecutive months of falling in monthly terms and eleven consecutive months at annual rates. May recorded 592,304 people on the unemployment rolls: 19,518 fewer people than in April, a decrease of 3.19%. There are 49,862 fewer people on the unemployment lists than in May 2013, a drop of 7.76%. This trend made May 2014 the best month for unemployment levels since the Spanish Ministry first produced this specific statistical series in 1996, 18 years ago.
In monthly terms, the relative decline of 3.19% in the month of May is the steepest since June 2013 when unemployment fell by 3.87% compared with the previous month. The unemployment figure in Catalonia has steadily declined for four consecutive months. In February, it declined by 4,285 people, in March, 5119, and in April it fell by 12,645 people.
Catalonia registers the largest decrease in unemployment in the Spanish State
For the month of May, Catalonia is the Spanish Autonomous Community where unemployment has fallen the most, by 19,518 people, followed by the Region of Madrid, where the decrease was 15,051 people. The result in Catalonia was marked by strong performance in the Province of Barcelona, where unemployment has fallen by 12,813 people. This numbers in the Catalan capital were echoed by significant decreases in the three other Catalan capitals: northeastern Girona (-2,249), western Lleida (-2,227), and southern Tarragona (-2,229).
Over the last year, from May 2013 to May 2014, unemployment in Catalonia has declined by about 50,000 people (49,862 people). There has not been such a pronounced fall in absolute terms in unemployment since December 2011, when unemployment fell by 51,871 people.
