The latest Labour Force Survey by the National Statistics Institute indicates that there were 46,300 fewer employed people in the Balearics in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared with the previous year. This decrease, by 8.12%, was second only to a 12% decline in the Canaries. Nationally, there was a fall of 3.12%.
At the end of 2020, there were 109,900 unemployed people in the Balearics, 47,200 more than at the end of 2019 and a rise of 75.2%. The unemployment rate rose by 7.4% to 17.3%. The rate for men was 16.62% (56,000 unemployed); for women it was 18.15% (53,900 unemployed).
By comparison with the July-September quarter, there were 50,000 fewer people employed. This was the largest fall in Spain. The decrease in the fourth quarter was 8.72% compared with the third quarter. In percentage terms, unemployment in the Balearics rose more than in other regions - an additional 21,900 unemployed, a rise of 24.96%. In absolute terms, the Balearics had the second highest increase after Catalonia (31,300 more unemployed).
For Spain as a whole, the impact of Covid on the labour market meant the destruction of 622,600 jobs in 2020, an additional 527,900 unemployed and a 2.35% rise in the unemployment rate to 16.1%. Nevertheless, in the fourth quarter there were 167,400 more people employed - up to 19.34 million - and 3,100 fewer unemployed (a total of 3,719,800).
By region, employment decreased most last year in Catalonia - 137,600 fewer people employed - followed by the Canaries (112,800) and Madrid (107,100). There were small increases in employment in Extremadura (5,500), Murcia (2,100) and La Rioja (400).