Laborda said that the growth in the labor force is essential to interpreting the data and highlighted “a very significant increase” in the number of people participating in the labor market. As he explained, the arrival of new job seekers raises registered unemployment figures, while also increasing the number of people available to work in Aragon.
MORE PEOPLE ARE SEEKING THEIR FIRST JOB
In this context, the director general highlighted the increase in unemployed people with no previous employment as one of the factors explaining the evolution of unemployment. He also pointed to the arrival of non-EU foreign citizens, including “people who have entered the regularization process,” as he noted during his assessment.
The rise in unemployment has affected all three Aragonese provinces and has been concentrated mainly in the services sector, according to Laborda. In his regional analysis, he stressed that in Teruel “unemployment figures are very low” and placed these data in the context of the results of the Labor Force Survey.
INDUSTRY AND CONSTRUCTION DRIVE HIRING
Despite the rise in unemployment, Laborda highlighted that there are also “very good data on the hiring side,” with industry and construction playing a particularly prominent role. Both sectors have recorded increases in contracts, which the head of Economic Policy considers a positive sign of their activity and of the outlook for Aragon’s economy.
Social Security enrollment is the other positive indicator highlighted by the director general. Laborda argued that the growth in the number of enrolled workers and the increase in hiring demonstrate Aragon’s ability to create jobs, in a scenario in which the number of people seeking a job opportunity is also rising.
