Employment fell by 25,100 people between April and June, the largest decline for this period since 2010, excluding 2020. The unemployment rate rose to 11.6%.
The Canary Islands labour market has entered a phase of moderation. This is reflected in the second quarter Active Population Survey (EPA), which shows a loss of employment of 25,100 people compared to the previous quarter, the largest decline for this period since 2010, not counting the year 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic.
The president of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Chamber of Commerce, Santiago Sesé, has pointed out that the data confirms a normalisation after several years of intense growth. “The second quarter is usually less favourable for employment in the Canary Islands than in the rest of the country due to seasonality,” he explained, but added that the decline also reflects an economy growing at a more contained pace.
The drop in employment was almost entirely concentrated in the services sector, with 24,400 fewer jobs. Industry also recorded a decline, although of lesser intensity. In contrast, the year-on-year comparison remains positive: services have 15,300 more employed than a year ago.
Despite the quarterly setback, the Canary Islands maintains a solid base with 1,035,500 people working, one of the highest figures in its history. In the past year, 13,500 jobs have been created. “These figures demonstrate that the evolution remains positive in annual terms, although with less dynamism,” stated Sesé.
The active population decreased by 25,700 people, down to 1,171,400, which explains why unemployment barely increased by 600 people, reaching 135,900 unemployed. The unemployment rate stood at 11.6%, two-tenths higher than in the previous quarter. The improvement across the country widened the differential with the national average to 1.7 percentage points, interrupting the convergence that began at the start of the year.
Both public and private employment fell during the quarter. However, in year-on-year terms, job creation is almost exclusively supported by the private sector, which has 13,500 more employed than a year ago.
For the Chamber of Commerce, this data underscores the need to address the structural challenges of the Canary Islands economy. Nearly a third of the unemployed have been looking for work for more than two years, highlighting the difficulty of reintegrating part of the unemployed population into the labour market. Sesé has emphasised the importance of strengthening training and professional reskilling policies.
“The economic scenario remains favourable and we are confident that the second half will allow us to recover some of the lost employment,” he declared. However, he warned that future growth will depend less on the quantity of employment and “more on our ability to improve productivity, have the talent that companies demand, adapt training to the needs of the productive fabric, and address factors such as absenteeism or access to housing.”
The evolution of the Canary Islands labour market in the coming months will be marked by the summer season, which traditionally corrects part of the adjustment of the second quarter. However, forecasts point to more moderate job creation than in previous years.
You may also like
