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The province of Alicante recorded a significant increase in employment in the second quarter of the year. A total of 36,800 new jobs were created, bringing the total number of people in employment to 849,500. It is particularly noteworthy that three out of four new jobs were filled by women, as the latest results of the labour force survey by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show.
After a weak start to the year, the worst since the property bubble burst, the labour market recovered significantly. The service sector was the main driver of this positive development, largely supported by the flourishing tourism sector. Growth was also recorded in agriculture and construction, while industry was the only sector to see a decline in employment figures.
Tourism as the engine of growth
The service sector recorded the largest increase, with 34,000 new employees, bringing the total labour force in this sector to 643,200. The positive development of tourism, which benefited the hotel and catering industry, trade and passenger transport in particular, contributed significantly to this increase.
Agriculture also reported positive figures, with an increase of 2,400 employees to a total of 20,400. The construction industry, which now employs 72,000 people, has recorded an increase of 9,600 jobs since the beginning of the year.
Decline in the industry
In contrast to the other sectors, industry suffered a loss of 9,100 jobs, which reduced the number of employees in this sector to 113,900.
Women benefit disproportionately
One particularly striking aspect of the current statistics is the strong increase in female employment. Of the newly created jobs, 27,100 were for women, which corresponds to 73.6 % of the total increase. This means that the total number of women in employment rose to 383,900. The number of men in employment also increased, albeit to a lesser extent, rising by 9,700 to 465,600.
Reduction in unemployment
Thanks to the positive development on the labour market, the number of unemployed fell by 8,200 to a total of 128,200 people. This led to a reduction in the unemployment rate from 14.37 % to 13.11 %. Despite this decline, the unemployment rate in Alicante is still above the national average of 11.27 %.
The strong increase in employment in the province of Alicante in the second quarter shows the dynamic development of the labour market, particularly in the service sector and tourism. The significant improvement in the labour market situation, particularly for women, is positive news, even if challenges remain in some areas such as industry.
