Health activities pull employment in a month in which the end of the school year causes the loss of 110,705 employed in Education

MADRID, 2 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Social Security gained an average of 21,945 contributors in July compared to the previous month (0.11%), which led the system to a new all-time high of 20,891,885 employed persons, according to data published this Wednesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Security Social and Migrations.

The rise in affiliation registered in July of this year contrasts with the fall of 7,366 contributors registered in the same month last year, although the growth is much less pronounced than that observed in July 2021, when the number of workers rose by 91,451 people .

With this growth in the number of contributors registered in July, affiliation to Social Security has been on the rise for six months, although the increase in this seventh month of the year is the least pronounced of all.

During the month of July, for a few days – between the 11th and 27th – the 20.9 million employed persons were exceeded, but the average for the month ended up standing at 20.89 million contributors, consolidating the level of 20.8 million workers that was reached for the first time in May of this year.

In the last year, Social Security has gained 550,920 affiliates in average values, with an interannual growth of 2.71%, a rate higher than that registered in June (2.56%).

In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of Social Security contributors rose again by 16,285 affiliates, after falling in June by 20,119 affiliates, and reached a total of 20,705,244 workers, thus rising again from the barrier of 20.7 million employed that was exceeded, for the first time, last May.

The Ministry has highlighted that the number of Social Security affiliates has grown by 464,350 people in the first seven months of the year and has stood at 20,705,244 workers in July, discounting seasonality and the calendar effect.

“It is the highest growth in the January-July period of the series, with the exception of 2005, conditioned by the extraordinary regularization process. In addition, it is a job creation figure similar to that in all of 2022, which was an exercise of great dynamism in the labor market”, they have underlined through a statement.

In addition, the Department headed by José Luis Escrivá has highlighted that the current level of affiliation is more than 1.3 million higher than that existing before the start of the pandemic, in February 2020, of which three quarters are jobs created in the private sector.

At the end of the seventh month of the year, the contributor/pensioner ratio reached 2.4, its highest value in ten years, while income from contributions grew up to June (latest data available) at a record year-on-year rate of 10% ( 8 .2% if the quotas from the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism are excluded, in force since January of this year).

The monthly rise in average affiliates in July compared to June did not affect both sexes, since men gained 63,889 contributors in the month compared to the previous month (0.58%), compared to a loss of female employment of 41,945 employed ( -0.4%).

With this drop, the number of working women fell from the record reached in June of 9,826,712 affiliates. Specifically, the total number of affiliated women in July was 9,784,767, while the number of employed men ended July at 11,107,117 contributors.

The average affiliation of foreigners also fell from record levels, which went from the maximum reached in June of 2,698,604 to 2,695,240 employed in July, representing a monthly drop of 3,364 people.

By schemes, the General, the most numerous in the system, gained 26,991 average affiliates in July (0.15%), up to a total of 17,478,591 employed, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) lost 6,819 affiliates to its ranks ( -0.2%), which placed the total number of self-employed contributors at 3,344,562.

Within the General Regime, the rise in membership was the general trend. Sanitary activities led the greatest rise in employment, gaining 49,346 contributors (2.71%). It is followed by commerce, which gained 41,099 contributors compared to the previous month (1.6%) and hospitality with 23,864 more employees (1.53%).

Among the decreases, Education stood out, which lost 110,705 affiliates in July (-10.32%) after the end of the school year. There were also decreases in Construction, with 1,886 fewer affiliates (-0.19), in Other Services, with 40 fewer employed persons, and in Activities of Extraterritorial Organizations and Bodies, with 1 less contributor.

For its part, the Special Agrarian System lost 38,161 jobs in the seventh month of the year (-5.54%) and the Home registered 3,567 casualties (-0.94%).

The Ministry underlines that the growth of affiliation compared to the level prior to the pandemic is “especially dynamic” in sectors with high added value, such as information technology and telecommunications, which have 23.7% more affiliates than before Covid, or professional, scientific and technical activities, where employment has increased by 14%.

In fact, according to Social Security, one in four new affiliates, that is, some 286,000 people, have joined these two “highly productive” sectors since the end of the pandemic.

Likewise, the Ministry highlights that, since 2019, youth employment has grown by 10.3%, exceeding the average for the economy as a whole by 3.4 points, while female employment has increased by 8.6%, 3 1 points more than the male.

According to the Ministry, the data for July reflect the positive effects of the labor reform on the stability of employment and the improvement of its quality since it entered into force 19 months ago.

Thus, the percentage of affiliates with a temporary contract stood at 15% in July, somewhat higher than the previous month (14%), although it contrasts with the average of 30% before the labor reform. In the case of those under 30 years of age, temporary employment has been reduced by 28 points, from 53% to 25%.

At the same time, Social Security now accounts for almost three million more members with an indefinite contract than in December 2021, the last month before the entry into force of the labor reform.

The greater stability of employment is also verified, according to the Ministry, in the fact that the average duration of contracts that have caused leave in the first seven months of this year has increased by 33% compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

Average affiliation rose in July in eleven autonomous communities and fell in six regions: Comunidad de Madrid (-18,132 contributors), Andalucía (-12,146), Canarias (-4,293), País Vasco (-4,220), Región de Murcia (-1,728 ) and La Rioja (-877). Membership also fell in the autonomous cities of Ceuta (-82) and Melilla (-234)

The greatest monthly increases, in absolute terms, were registered in the Balearic Islands, which added 12,912 affiliates, and in Catalonia and Galicia, with 10,931 and 10,898 more contributors, respectively.

On the other hand, the Ministry has reported that as of July 31 there were 12,227 workers in ERTE, the approximate equivalent to 0.1% of the total affiliates, of which 11,115 were in an ERTE-ETOP and 1,112 in an ERTE by force elderly.