January Costa unemployment figures rise

LAST year 2018 ended with the best unemployment figures in Alicante province for the past five years. Unfortunately, January figures are the worst since 2013.

January has always been a bad month, people are laid off after the Christmas campaign, but this January 3,675 people signed on to the dole, making of total of 154,391 claiming unemployment benefits, only marginally lower than 3,928 registered in January 2013.

The amount of workers paying into the social security system has also dropped spectacularly by 10,627, almost equalling the 10,650 drop that occurred in 2012.

But why is this happening? According to the Valencian Institute of Economic Investigation, economic activity is slowing down. In addition, that future rises of unemployment figures are to be expected. Some experts also say that Brexit is a factor, along with the trade war between China and United States; they also say that companies do not want to take on more staff if they don’t know what lies ahead in the future.

The recent rise in Spain’s minimum wage limit could also be a factor, but it is too soon to confirm this as it has only come into force this January.

The majority of those joining the lists of the unemployed come from the services sector (3,867), followed by the agricultural sector (549). Industry and construction sectors have seen their unemployment figures drop by 322.

The official unemployment rate for the Spanish national stands at 3,285,761, with 83,464 people signing on the dole last month.