The Canary Islands finished the summer quarter with 167,800 unemployed, 6,100 more than it had at the end of May, which represents an increase of 3.76%, as reflected in the Labor Force Survey (EPA) published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Thus, the unemployment rate in the islands stands at 14.40% of the active population, the second highest in the country, after Andalusia (16.06%) and three points above the average (11.21%).
The rise in unemployment in the Canary Islands in June, July and August is the product of the destruction of 7,900 net jobs compared to the previous quarter, which was partially attenuated by the departure of 1,800 people from the group of "assets", which is made up of those citizens who either have a job or are actively looking for one.
At the moment, the Canary Islands economy employs 997,400 people, a figure of employed people that exceeds by 25,500 the number that existed in the islands a year ago, at the end of the summer of 2023 (2.63).
That rate of 2.63% increase in employment reflects that, in the last twelve months, the Canary Islands has created employment at a rate that exceeds by one percentage point the rate observed in the Spanish economy as a whole, where the number of employed has grown by 1.76%.
However, the unemployed have only been reduced in the last year in the islands by 4,300 people, 2.50%, because at the same time that 25,500 net jobs were generated, 21,200 people joined the group of assets as job seekers.
Of the 167,800 unemployed that the Canary Islands has at this time, 76,800 are men and 91,000 are women. The male unemployment rate thus stands at 12.52% and the female rate at 16.49%.
During the third quarter, the number of unemployed in Spain decreased by 1,200 people, 0.04%, to close September with a total of 2.75 million unemployed, according to the EPA.
At the moment, 21.82 million people have a job in Spain, 138,300 more than in May (+0.64%) and 376,600 more than a year ago (+1.76%).
The country's unemployment rate is now 11.21%. Andalusia, with 16.06%; the Canary Islands, with 14.40%; and Extremadura, with 13.79%, are the communities with the highest unemployment in comparative terms, while the lowest rates are presented by the Balearic Islands, with 6.17%; the Basque Country, with 7.61%; and Navarra, with 7.72%.
