Socio Economic Situacion In Spain

The socio-economic and employment situation in Spain

Spain has seen a strong rise in employment levels over the past decade, and by September 2006

the overall employment rate was just over 66%, with female employment over 54%. At that time,

8.15% of the population was jobless В– well below the 2000 fi gure of 13.5%.

These rates are linked to a large population increase since 1998, due to massive immigration into the

country. Immigrants have a higher employment rate than the national average and now represent over

8% of the population.

In spite of impressive growth in recent years, women's participation in the labour market remains

insuffi cient. The availability of more care facilities is needed to address this challenge and improve the

balance between work and family life. More eff orts are also being undertaken to promote women's careers

and their access to more senior positions, particularly on boards of directors where they represent only 4%

of members.

In contrast to the positive employment fi gures, structural unemployment remains high among some

ethnic groups such as the Roma, women, disabled people, younger workers and those over 45 years old.

In addition, many Spanish workers do not have adequate job security: in 2005, one-third of all Spanish jobs

were short-term contracts, which is more than double the EU average.

As regards the younger generation, Spain's unemployment rate for the under-25s stands at almost 22%,

which is high compared to the current EU-25 average of 18.6%. Spain intends to bring this rate down to the

EU average by 2010. At the same time, eff orts are being made to reduce the number of students dropping

out of school, as rates for early school leavers stand at almost 30% В– twice the EU average.

Spain's GDP growth of 3.49% in 2006 was almost double the EU average. However, this has been tempered

by declining productivity growth, which is currently at just 0.5% compared to the EU average of 1.8%.

Against this backdrop, competitiveness can only be maintained by greater innovation and product

choice. At the same time, Spain's construction and service sectors, above all tourism, require

modernisation and a greater take-up of ICT to reinforce effi ciency.