The employment data as of the last day of September indicates a decrease in the number of affiliates in the Marina Alta, reaching the figure of 53.984 people. This decrease of 1.981 affiliations implies a decrease of 3,54% compared to August. Despite the fact that this drop is less than that originated in the same period last year (-6,04%), at the end of the third quarter of this year, affiliates decreased by 1.296 people compared to the end of the third quarter of 2019.
This behavior is repeated year after year in the Marina Alta, with the end of the summer period and the high dependence on tourism linked to the service sector, there is a decrease in affiliations during the month of September.
In interannual terms we have a fall in employment of 2,34% (-1.296 people) and this decrease has been more intense in the General Regime compared to the rest of sectors (-4,72% compared to September 2019). On the contrary, compared to the same month of 2019, the Special Regime for Self-Employed is the one that has grown the most in affiliation in relative terms (+ 2,67%). If we set the second quarter of this year as a reference, the most positive percentage change is that generated in the General Sea Regime (+ 11,15%).
Although the magnitude of the crisis can be measured with the variation between year and year. As mentioned with respect to September of last year, the decrease in affiliates is 1.296. However, since the month before the crisis, employment has increased in the Marina Alta by 273 affiliates in these 7 months, a sign of recovery in the labor market. But it must be taken into account that these figures are subject to ERTE, which increases the numbers of affiliates and whose qualification is very important (all workers affected by ERTE who are not on leave from Social Security).
Regarding the number of jobseekers, although on the one hand we can say that in percentage terms we have the least job destruction in the last 10 years in the month of September (increase of 5,41%), reaching a total of 12.595 On the other hand, we find that the total number of unemployed reached September 30 exceeds 2.625 people, those reached in the same month of 2019, this represents an interannual increase of 26,33%, the highest interannual percentage growth in the series studied . Something logical that happens knowing the dramatic effects on employment produced by the health crisis. This number of unemployed had not been reached in the last 5 years and in these 7 months of pandemic crisis, there has been job destruction in just over 1.600 jobs (since February), a worrying figure that has again affected the economic crisis passed the summer months and that begins to approach the worst data of what we have so far, April, May and June.
Unemployment has had more impact on women than on men, 54,8% of job seekers are women, despite the fact that the increase in the figures compared to August has remained on par for both sexes (+5,15 % women and + 5,72% men).
As for the three predominant sectors in employment in the Marina Alta; Commerce, Hospitality, and Construction, only in construction, unemployment decreased compared to August, reaching almost 1.600 unemployed in September, a decrease of 2,14% compared to August, with hospitality being the sector with the greatest increase in unemployed, 480 unemployed more than in August (+ 18,8%), reaching 3.035 unemployed in September.
The employment data converge with the number of ERTE, there is a reduction in the number of ERTE in recent months, this indicates a positive reading of the job market, but we must bear in mind that facing autumn is a period of the year where a seasonal slowdown in employment tends to occur and this endangers the ERTE figure to grow. Therefore, this assumes that both factors are united; A certain slowdown in employment during the autumn months, which is also linked to certain sectors that lose employment in the autumn, such as sectors linked to tourism, this may lead to a break in the trend of reducing the number of ERTEs.
Hiring generates a measure of the labor market itself, it tells us what volume of opportunities exists in the labor market to find a job. In September there was an indefinite contract in the Marina Alta of 503 contracts and 3.096 temporary contracts. These figures, when compared with last year, represent falls in permanent contracts of 14,75% and 6,12% in the case of temporary contracts. This decrease in hiring shows negative signs of the promotion of hiring, however, this trend is positive, since these negative proportions are decreasing. In April we were talking about drops in hiring of almost 74% compared to April 2019, and from April to September these year-on-year reductions are progressively decreasing.
Finally, the quarterly behavior of hiring shows an accumulated value of 12.766 signatures of contracts in this 3rd quarter of the year, this represents 7.355 more contracts than in the second quarter of the year, or what is the same, an increase of 135,93 %, however, again, comparing the figures with the third quarter of 2019 represents a decrease of 10,65%, or what is the same, 1.521 fewer contracts.
