Latest Canarian unemployment figures

[Nova]

The systems we use would make Windows 3.1 look state-of-the-art.  As I suggested in the post above, in Spain many official things need to be paid in the bank which would be paid on the internet, by phone or even by posting a cheque in the UK, which means that cash desks in Spanish banks have to deal with a much higher volume of traffic and a wider range of transactions.  Add to that that the Spanish customers (in Tenerife anyway) are  generally much less tech-savvy and prefer to queue for half an hour to withdraw €20 than to risk having a card and trusting the cash machine.  Fearful of the internet, many come into the branch to make simple transfers rather than do them online. Even for those that are comfortable with technology, our cash machines don't support cash deposits, unlike most cash machines in the UK these days, so queuing is unavoidable for anyone wanting to pay money in.

Some of my British customers also think that in the UK cash desks are staffed with more cashiers per queuing capita, whereas here two seems to be about the maximum.  Can you imagine going into a Natwest in the UK when the queue is out the door and seeing only two cashiers on the desk?  Or one? 

It's a different world.

[Janet]

October's unemployment figures rose again, with a further 237 added to the queues of the jobless throughout the Canaries. The increase represents a growth of  0.08% on September, with Tenerife performing twice as badly as Las Palmas, though the Government is at pains to stress that in year-on-year terms, it actually represents a drop of 1.22%, with 3,511 fewer unemployed than this time last year. There are, however, still 284,309 people without work in these islands. JA

[Janet]

A breath of Christmas relief with November's figures, which show a reduction of 931 in the numbers of unemployed, a drop of 0.33% compared to October. Not much, but at this point I'm sure we'll take any positive sign! There are now 283,378 people out of work in the Canaries. It is the eastern province of Las Palmas which has benefited in the main, however, with 820 of the 911 living in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura or Lanzarote. Tenerife's numbers (including La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro) fell by 111. JA

[Janet]

Last year ended with unemployment figures continuing to fall, with a drop of 9,300 throughout the Canaries, making a fall of 10,862 throughout the year. That leaves 274,000 people out of work here. We have to hope that this improvement continues, and the president of the Canaries, Paulino Rivero, has nailed his colours to the mast by claiming that this is "the beginning of the good times". I'm sure he hopes he's right, for more than one reason, not least to counter his critics, who claim that the figures are misleading because the drop does not represent real jobs.

They claim, indeed, that the situation is actually worse than previously because numbers of long term unemployed who are now beyond all state assistance have risen, and now represent a frightening 47.9%, nearly half, of those out of work – and this figure is confirmed by the Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social. If President Rivero is right, things are on the up, but I don't think anyone is beguiled into thinking that recovery will be quick, or easy. JA

[Guanche]

Load of rubbish from where I'm sitting! Last week saw a nephew who had worked at Mapfre for the past 14 years layed off. The lad, well man really, has a MA in economics and another degree in something else, or he may have two not to sure. Anyway he spent a lot of time at school! He's now sending off his CV's to businesses in London and Mexico.
His brother is down to two week contracts with the BBVA, a branch in the South some where.
So out of the eleven 18 to 34 year old nephews and nieces we have on the island only one is now in full time employment and one on two week contracts. Out of the in laws we have one 58 year old electrical engineer who will in all probability never work again. A 49 year old electrician on monthly contracts a 60 year old ex shop manager who will probably never work again. Out of that only three are receiving state help, two on unemployment benefit and one on the €450 'auda'. The rest get NADA Snr Rivero!

The sadist thing is we have a nephew who is 18 this year and due to leave school. His father is the one on the €450 Auda so futher education will be a financial problem. I asked him the other day what he wants to do. He just shrugged his shoulders and said 'What is there'?

[Janet]

 After a few good months with unemployment figures falling, January's statistics show a rise of 0.72%, with some 1,981 more people out of work than in December. The increase is being put down to the ending of temporary contracts granted either for the latter half of 2013, or the Christmas period. The figures were released today by the Ministerio de Empleo, and they confirm a total of 276,034 out of work in the Canaries. In the western province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife it rose by 777, a total of 129,256 unemployed in Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro.

Unemployment rose throughout Spain in January, but the Canaries had the lowest rise; only the Balearics had a drop in numbers out of work. And yet, nationally, January unemployment figures overall rose by the smallest amount for seven years. It was the Balearics, too, that had the best interannual drop, 5%. The Canaries was again in second place, close behind, however, with a fall of 4.66%, 13,483 unemployed compared with January 2013. In Tenerife's province, the yearly drop was 4.68%, 6,348.

Only the other day Canarian president Paulino Rivero claimed that this is "the beginning of the good times". His critics said that the figures are misleading because the recent drops did not represent real jobs. January's figures bring an always unwelcome rise, but there seem reasons for some optimism all the same. Let's hope they're not illusory, and that those hoping for recovery are seeing genuine glimmers of hope rather than clutching at straws. JA

[Janet]

Unemployment fell slightly last month, dropping 483 people, leaving 275,551 out of work here, a monthly fall of 0.17%. The tiny drop is perhaps significant because this is the first February since 2007 in which a fall has been recorded: normally there is a rise with temporary winter contracts coming to an end: in February 2009, for example, it rose 154,000! If unemployment has fallen here despite this seasonal factor, it could offer some support to the authorities' claims that things are on the up here, at last. It might be grasping at straws, but at least there is a straw to grasp at! JA

[Janet]

Spain as a whole is predicting very slow and fragile growth, but is claiming support for this by a further drop in the numbers of people out of work for what is now the eigth consecutive month to 4.8m unemployed nationally. Here in the Canaries, however, unemployment rose by 1,947 in March, a further rise of 0.75% on February, leaving 277,498 out of work in these islands: a possibly even more tragic figure is that almost half, 47.1%, are now without any welfare support of any form, a figure confirmed by the Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social.

For those who might need to know what to ask for if they need help themselves, the 52.9% of Canarian unemployed who are getting some welfare help are receiving either "prestación contributiva" (54,343), subsidio (69,235), or "renta activa de inserción" (22,085). Given the numbers it is easy to work out that this means 129,888 people in the Canaries are without any income whatsoever. The only possibly positive news in this whole sorry affair is that unemployment fell this March compared with March 2013, a drop of 14,174, or 4.86%. JA

[Janet]

The Canaries' unemployment figures for April fell by 712, a drop of 0.26% on March, and an interannual reduction of 19,038, a drop of 6.44% compared with April 2013. There are now 276,786 out of work in the islands. In the two provices, Tenerife is faring slightly better than Las Palmas, with 129,603 unemployed and a monthly drop of 0.45% compared with 147,183 unemployed and a fall of 0.09% in the eastern province. JA

[Janet]

May's unemployment figures have been released by the Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, and show that in the Canaries jobless numbers fell by 2,374 from April, a drop of 0.86%. There are now 274,412 people out of work in the islands. Compared with May 2013, last month's figures show a drop of 7.41%, which in absolute terms takes 21,950 off the lists of the unemployed over the last year. Nationally, unemployment fell in May by 111,916, leaving 4,572,385 people out of work. JA