May sees biggest job growth in Spain since July 2005

May was another month of improvement in Spain’s job market. Social Security affiliations grew by 198,320 people, the greatest increase on record since July 2005, when the government granted legal status to thousands of undocumented migrants who left the informal economy and joined the rolls. New contributions to Social Security are used as a measure of job creation in Spain.

In another piece of good news for the labor market, jobless claims shrank by 111,916, the biggest drop ever recorded in May.

This is the third consecutive month that Social Security has recorded a rise in affiliations. May and June are typically the best months for the Spanish labor market because of tourism, construction and harvesting work. As such, the greatest number of new affiliations were for jobs in these sectors.

Seasonally adjusted figures also posted positive signs for the ninth month in a row.

“We are looking at a powerful rise in affiliation that goes far beyond what one could expect of the month of May,” said Tomás Burgos, state secretary for Social Security.

As for new hires, the upward trend continued both for temporary and open-ended contracts.