Unemployment drops by 2023% annually in the Marina Alta in 8, although December closes with increases in job seekers

The Labor Market figures for 2023, as collected and analyzed by CREAMA's Marina Alta Observatory, continue to reflect the positive effect of the latest labor reform and the resistance of the economy in the Marina Alta. The region creates nearly 1.800 new jobs in 2023 despite inflation and geopolitical tensions and it also becomes the third consecutive year in which employment grows after the strong impact that the pandemic had on the labor market. In fact, the Marina Alta economy today has 7.298 more employees than in December 2019 and almost 60% of the new jobs are with permanent contracts.

Employment data for the month of December 2023

Two years after the labor reform promoted by the government, the data for the end of 2023 show a positive balance of employment, with more than 61.000 affiliates of Social Security and a total number of job seekers in December with lowest levels since 2007, before the financial crisis broke out. Although the change in model that began with the 2021 reform is maintained, the figures point to a slowdown in the pace of job creation, which is expected to worsen in 2024, as a consequence of the slowdown in growth. The number of job seekers has grown in this last month by 78 people, chaining 4 consecutive months of increases, when the usual thing in December months prior to the pandemic crisis was to talk about decreases in job seekers by more than 230 people in average (from 2012 to 2019). Furthermore, although unemployment continued to decline throughout 2023, it did so at a slower speed than a year before; Last year, 3.668 fewer permanent contracts were signed than in 2022 and the group of unemployed women, although it has increased to a lesser extent than that of men, continues to be the majority among those looking for work. Furthermore, although the weight of permanent contracts has grown in general terms and has stabilized throughout the year at around 64%, the seasonal nature of the labor market in the Marina Alta continues to be appreciated, a bias typical of an economy where The service sector continues to gain weight.

Worse news is the drop in the number of members: there are 362 fewer than last month, so in the Marina Alta there are 61.002 people working – also a record in the month of December – although it exceeds the usual figure for a month at the end of the year. ; In 2014-19, the average for December shows a decrease of 197 affiliates. Its annual variation is of less concern, its year-on-year growth has been 3,03%.