MADRID, 4 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers Associations (ATA), Lorenzo Amor, has warned this Tuesday that the self-employed employment data published today, although they reflect that they have grown by 11,000 compared to the previous month, are still below of the average growth for the month of March, a month of habitual increase because seasonal businesses are opened.

In addition, the president of ATA has warned that the increase in the last decade is below the average and that in year-on-year terms there are still fewer self-employed than last year, specifically 1,300 less self-employed, which “presages a new drop” in the employment of this group in 2023.

According to the data published this Tuesday on affiliation to Social Security, the Spatial Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) has added 11,185 self-employed workers in March, a figure that, although positive, means that the number of self-employed affiliation is below the average of the last decade in the month of March.

As ATA recalls, last year the RETA added 7,978 self-employed workers in March and marked the worst data in self-employed affiliation since 2013 and yet 46,000 were earned year-on-year. This year’s is the third worst record of the decade.

All the autonomous communities have had a positive but uneven evolution in this month of March. Of the 11,185 self-employed who have joined the RETA, 78.6% have registered in Andalusia (2,496 self-employed, 0.4%), the Valencian Community (0.5%), the Balearic Islands (1.5%), o Catalonia (0.3%) o Madrid (1,465 self-employed, 0.4%).

“The behavior of employment in the month of March has been good, especially due to the pull that Holy Week obviously has. A behavior that has indisputably been much better in territories such as Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community or Catalonia” , added Love.

The percentage growth of activities such as the arts, construction, information or the hospitality industry in the month of March stands out. Commerce takes a small breather this month (adds 0.1%), but not in the year-on-year comparison, which continues to lose 2.6% of its affiliates

“We are seeing that there are sectors, such as commerce, that are hard hit. There are also losses in industry and agriculture, precisely the self-employed and very small companies are the ones that are currently hardest hit, because they are suffering an increase in expenses well above the sales that can be had”, pointed out Lorenzo Amor.