The province of Alicante set a new employment record after an exceptional June in terms of job creation.

The start of the high tourist season and the impetus given by the extraordinary legalization of immigrants led to the fact that the number of persons registered in the Social Security System exceeded 800,000 for the first time and reached 805,966.

More than 11,000 jobs were created in June

This means that in the last month alone, 11,232 jobs were created in Alicante, which is about 375 per day.

This is the second-best figure on record, trailing only the 14,184 jobs created in 2021, although the main reason was the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

This allowed many Spanish residents to return to work after being under ERTE in previous months.

June is traditionally considered a good month as staffing in the service, retail and hospitality sectors expands to cope with the increase in visitor traffic.

However, this time foreign citizens played a key role.

Immigrants have played an important role in employment growth

Thus, at the national level, immigrants account for 86,600 of the 128,500 jobs created, which is two-thirds of the total.

This figure undoubtedly has a lot to do with the emergency legalization procedure, which allows for the regularization of the situation of many people who were already in Spain and working in the informal sector of the economy.

In this context, issues of paperwork are of particular importance for foreigners, including obtaining a NIE in Spain, legalization of status and registration Residence permit by settlement.

Hotel and restaurant business and trade lead in job creation

As you might expect, registration data by industry reflects the start of the high tourist season.

Thus, the hotel and restaurant business accounts for almost a third of all new jobs created – a total of 3,564.

Employment in the retail sector is also growing rapidly, with many retail outlets opening in coastal municipalities this season, and other businesses hiring new staff to replace employees who go on vacation and to strengthen their staff due to the increase in customer traffic.

Thus, 2,726 new payers were registered in this industry in the province.

Another growing area of activity is support services – including maintenance and cleaning companies, which also see an increase in work volume at this time of year and have taken on 1,208 new staff.

Similarly, construction employment increased by 1,012; in the manufacturing industry – by 939; in the field of sports, art and leisure – by 588; and in healthcare – by another 582.

In the education sector alone, due to the dismissal of temporary workers and other temporary personnel, the number of contribution payers decreased by 1,791 people in June.

Unemployment fell, but at a moderate pace

As would be expected, these figures are also reflected in a decrease in the number of unemployed people registered at Labora employment centers, although to a much lesser extent, indicating that many of the new workers are people who are just now entering the labor market.

Thus, according to the Ministry of Labor, the number of unemployed people fell by only 1,500 people, bringing the total number of registered job seekers to 112,991 people.

Against the background of record indicators, the topic work in Spain remains especially relevant for foreigners who are planning to move, legalize or enter the local labor market.

Almost 53% of contracts remain indefinite

Regarding the quality of jobs created, the trend that began after the labor reform continues: almost 53% of all registered employment contracts are open-ended.

This is a more than positive indicator – especially considering the time of year when many employers are looking for additional staff for the summer months.

Alicante provided the main growth in the Valencian Community

Regarding data at the level of autonomy, a total of 12,374 jobs were created in the Valencian Community.

In contrast to the strong growth recorded in the province of Alicante, Castellón saw only 2,341 new hires, while Valencia experienced job losses, resulting in 1,199 fewer contributors.

In turn, the number of officially registered unemployed decreased by 2,445 and amounted to 281,651 people.