Little by little the Pitiusa economy, driven by tourism, is recovering the pulse and, in turn, the jobs lost during the most difficult moments of the pandemic. In July, for example, half of the jobs that were lost a year ago were recovered: both islands recorded 83,567 contributors to Social Security, 9,575 more ( 13%) than a year ago, although there are still 9,552 less (almost the same as was added) than there were in 2019 (93,119). In other words, there are 10.2% fewer empolyed than before the outbreak of the epidemic.
However, this is July’s data (the most recently published), so we will still have to wait a couple of weeks to find out whether further progress was made during August in the recovery of the labour market. It is most likely to have improved, given the increase in the number of tourists.
By islands, Ibiza ended that month with 77,045 registered, 8,848 more than in 2020 ( 13%), although, the number is 9,170 less (-10.6%) than in 2019. On Formentera, with 6,522 jobs, they added 727 ( 12.5%), but another 382 still need to be added to reach the level of two years ago. They are very close.
The sector that has suffered the least is the construction sector, which employed 8,023 people, 3% more than in 2020 and 9.2% more than in 2019
The sector that has suffered the least is the construction sector, which employed 8,023 people, 3% more than in 2020 and 9.2% more than in 2019. “Pandemic? What pandemic?” they must be wondering in construction. Most of the new jobs have gone to building (7.8% compared to last year; 17% compared to two years ago), while civil engineering and specialized activities lost steam (but nothing too dramatic).
The recovery is slow in sectors such as the affected Ibizan commerce trade. Wholesale (2,668 jobs) has improved by 4.2% in one year, but still has almost 14% fewer jobs than in 2019. Retail still suffers from the loss it suffered 12 months ago: it has added 5.3% more workers compared to then, but still has 17% fewer contributors than in 2019, when there were 1,362 more employees. It now employs 6,574 people: two years ago, almost 8,000.
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