In a remarkable milestone, Spain has surpassed 21 million members of Social Security after creating 199,538 jobs in April. This marks a slower pace in the labor market compared to last year due to Easter falling in April 2023, but still higher than the average in previous years before the pandemic.
The Ministry reported that the surge in seasonal employment led to an unprecedented 21,101,505 affiliations to the system. It is important to note that this number does not represent the total number of people working in the country as individuals with multiple jobs are registered with one affiliation per job.
The year-on-year growth revealed an increase of 486,516 affiliates or 2.36%, the slowest pace since 2014 excluding the pandemic year. The hospitality sector accounted for 47% of all jobs created in April, particularly in tourist regions where bars and restaurants prepare for the influx of travelers during the spring.
Hospitality saw the most job creations with 91,913 new positions, followed by administrative activities and auxiliary services as well as commerce. Additionally, self-employment grew in April with 11,987 new self-employed workers, mostly in the hospitality sector.
The surge in employment was largely attributed to seasonal jobs linked to tourism as shown by their distribution among Balearics, Andalusia and Catalonia. Despite most jobs being in services sector there were also job increases across other sectors such as agriculture, livestock fishing industry and construction.
The number of unemployed registered at Sepe offices decreased by a staggering 60,503 people in April bringing it down to 2
