Jobless claims rise in October but fall on a seasonally-adjusted basis

Jobless claims in Spain rose for the second month in a row in October as the summer hiring period ended, but the seasonally adjusted figure reflected a drop and the number of people signed on with the Social Security system increased.

According to figures released Tuesday by the Labor Ministry, the number of people registered as out of work rose by 87,028 last month from September to 4.811 million. However, compared with the same month a year earlier, jobless claims declined by 22,138, the first annual fall since May 2007.

After adjusting for seasonal and calendar factors, benefit claims declined by 8,239 from September. The ministry said for the first time since 2006 the number of people officially registered as unemployed declined in the months of August, September and October.

The number of people inscribed in the Social Security system in October rose by 54,927 to 16.360 million, the first increase in the month of October since 2007.

Since the start of this year, jobless claims have fallen by 37,340, the biggest drop since 2006, with the number of unemployed workers aged under 25 falling by 36,291.

According to the National Statistics Institute’s Active Population Survey, unemployment in the second quarter dipped just below six million, while the jobless rate eased to slightly below 26 percent.

The number of work contracts awarded in the month was up 10.9 percent from October of last year at 1.582 million. This was due exclusively to an increase in temporary employment, with the number of permanent contracts awarded falling by 8.60 percent.