Year ends with jobless dip on Costa Almeria

THE year ended with the best figures on unemployment for Almeria for the month of December since 2008.
The Government Sub-delegation in Almeria reported there were 1,444 fewer people registered as out of work in the province at the end of the month than at the beginning, representing a 2.57 drop in the jobless rate. The decrease put the total number of people without work at 54,772, the first time the total has fallen below 55,000 since February 2009.
The inter-annual drop in the provincial unemployment rate was 2.66 per cent, or 1,497 people less people out of work than in December 2018.
The sub-delegation highlighted the decrease in unemployment among women in Almeria, with 1,314 less than in November; women currently represent 57 per cent of the total unemployed in the province.
By sector, services registered the greatest decrease in joblessness, with 1,304 less on the dole, followed by agriculture on 174. In the ‘without previous employment’ group there was a drop of 226.
In the industry and construction sectors the jobless rate edged up, by 43 and 217 respectively.
The number of under-25s out of work went down by 370 to 4,159 in all.
In all 1,886 indefinite job contracts were registered in the province last month, 335 more than in December 2018. Over the whole of 2019, 30,479 indefinite contracts were formalised, six per cent more than in the previous year.