The labour market improved again in May, a month traditionally marked by the start of hiring linked to the summer season. The number of people registered with employment offices fell by 36,323 compared with April, to 2.32 million, the lowest figure for a month of May since 2007, according to data published on Tuesday by the Ministries of Labour and of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.
Compared with the same month last year, unemployment fell by 134,162 people. The decline spread across all productive sectors, although the group of people with no previous employment recorded a slight increase.
Social Security membership also continued to rise. The system added an average of 231,975 contributors over the month, bringing the total to 22.3 million registered workers, the highest level since comparable records began. The seasonally adjusted figure, which corrects for calendar effects, stood at 22.1 million people in work after 64 consecutive months of growth.
Record levels of membership were repeated across different population groups, including young people, women, men, self-employed workers and foreign nationals. The latter reached 3.36 million contributors and now account for around 15% of all registered workers.
