Spain’s booming summer service sector and foreign workers reduce jobless rate

The jobless rate from July to September was 11.21%, down from 11.27% in the second quarter, according to data published by INE.

The services sector accounted for the vast bulk of the 138,300 jobs created during the period, which coincided with the crucial summer holiday season in the world’s second most-visited country.

There were also a record 3.3 million foreigners working in Spain this summer, thanks to an extra 180,000 non-Spaniards added to the country’s workforce over the past year.

Around 2 million of these foreign workers have been residing in Spain for seven years or longer and 594,000 for between four and six years.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has consistently highlighted positive economic data as a major achievement of his fragile coalition government and to bat away opposition criticism.

The European Union’s fourth-largest economy suffered unemployment rates above 16% during the Covid-19 pandemic, just as it was slightly recovering from the damage of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Sanchez hailed Friday’s ‘fantastic data’ on X (Twitter), saying they demonstrated the strength of the labour market and brought the goal of full employment closer.

‘Spain leads economic growth and shows the strength of its labour market, with new impressive data,’ he wrote. ‘Thanks to workers, companies and institutions, we have reached historic highs in employment and unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 2008. Our goal of full employment is getting closer.’

España lidera el crecimiento económico y muestra la fortaleza de su mercado laboral, con nuevos datos formidables. Gracias a trabajadores, empresas e instituciones, alcanzamos máximos históricos de ocupación y el paro cae a mínimos de 2008.

Nuestro objetivo del pleno empleo está… https://t.co/HpEFmguWyZ

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) October 25, 2024