Recorded unemployment fell by 60,214 in March, the largest fall in 13 years

The number of unemployed registered with the Public Employment Services in Spain fell by 60,214 in March, putting the total figure at 4,451,939. This is the largest fall in unemployment in a month of March since 2002. In the last six years, recorded unemployment in March has increased by an average of over 35,000.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, recorded unemployment fell by 63,368. This is the best figure for any month since current records began. Except for July 2014, the number of unemployed in seasonally-adjusted terms has been falling month by month since May 2013 and has now fallen for the last 23 months straight.

In the last 12 months, recorded unemployment has fallen by 343,927. This is the largest year-on-year reduction in unemployment since current records began, at -7.17% year-on-year. 

Recorded unemployment has fallen in all sectors where the unemployed are registered. Unemployment among those who most recently worked in the service sector fell by 49,024 (-1.7%). The same trend was seen among those coming from the construction sector (-8,847 or -1.7%), the industrial sector (-6,893 or -1.6%) and the agriculture sector (-4,061 or -1.8%). The number of unemployed first-time job-seekers rose by 8,611 (2.3%).

Unemployment falls in 16 autonomous regions. The largest decreases in absolute terms were posted by Andalusia (-10,737), Catalonia (-9,469) and the Region of Valencia (-7,772). In contrast, unemployment rose in the Basque Country (510).

The number of new employment contracts recorded in March amounted to 1,441,775. This represents an increase of 18.5% on the same month of 2014.

A total of 144,291 permanent employment contracts were recorded, an increase of 27.2% on the same month last year. The year-on-year increase in permanent full-time employment stands at 28.8%.

The number of training and apprenticeship contracts rose by 43.1% in March, with 13,791 such contracts reported. In addition, 5,853 work experience contracts were signed, a year-on-year increase of 49.4%.

There were a total of 2,372,615 unemployment benefit recipients in February 2015, with the amount of benefits paid out by the system amounting to 1.88 billion euros.

The State Secretary for Employment, Engracia Hidalgo, stressed that the data published on Monday "clearly show the consolidation of a sound upward trend in the labour market".

"We should continue working so that the recovery of stable and quality employment increasingly affects a greater number of people in our country", she said.