The Government’s commitment to promoting self-employment has boosted the self-employed regime by 2.6% compared to a year ago and they now represent 20.5% of registered employment.

Permanent contracts in the territory represent 65.4% of the total, a figure that demonstrates the quality of employment generated, compared to 41.9% of the national total.

Unemployment fell in year-on-year and month-on-month terms by 5% and 2.1%, respectively.

The Balearic Islands is the only autonomous community to reduce unemployment from December to January

The islands continue to be close to full employment, recording an administrative unemployment rate of 5.8% in the first month of the year.

In January, the Balearic Islands registered 480,868 Social Security registrations, a figure which, compared with January 2023, implies an increase of 14,827 more employed people (+3.2%). Moreover, the islands remain at the top of the ranking of autonomous communities, behind only the Canary Islands, which achieved a year-on-year increase in enrolments of 3.4%. In Spain as a whole, the average annual increase in the number of people registered with Social Security was 2.4%.

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The Balearic Islands increased employment by 3.2% in January with 480,868 new registrations and continues to lead the national ranking in job creation.

A comparison of the number of new registrations in January with the previous month shows a fall of 7,129 in the Balearic Islands (-1.5%). In Spain as a whole, month-on-month enrolment also fell by -1.1%.

Self-employed

In the Balearic Islands, 98,754 people were self-employed in January, a figure that represents 20.5% of total registered employment. The number of people who have chosen this type of affiliation increased by 2,546 compared to a year ago (+2.6 %) and fell by 933 (-0.9 %) compared to the previous month.

The regional secretary for Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue, Catalina Cabrer, has assessed these data positively because, as she explained, ‘we continue to create jobs in months that have historically been weaker. Thus we see how in January in the Balearic Islands we can maintain job growth.

Cabrer also highlighted the Government’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship. In this regard, he highlighted the increase in the number of self-employed workers during the first month of this year: ‘we see that the data support us with a growth of 2.6% in the self-employed. We should also remember that this system of affiliation represents more than 20% of employment in the Balearic Islands’.

The regional secretary also stressed the quality of the employment generated and said that in the Balearic Islands ‘we should no longer speak of precariousness in hiring, but rather of quality, because permanent contracts in the autonomous community represent 65.4% of the total, a figure well above that of Spain as a whole’. For Cabrer, this is possible ‘thanks to the efforts of the administrations, the business sector and the workers’.

Finally, the head of Employment has stressed the fact that the Government is able to reduce unemployment, not only annually but also monthly, even in the low season. ‘We continue to grow, creating jobs and reducing year-on-year and month-on-month unemployment, even in the winter months,’ she said.

Unemployment

Regarding unemployment, in January the Balearic Islands registered 29,560 unemployed people, which represents a decrease of 1,517 people (-5.0%) compared to a year ago. Unemployment fell on all the islands: in Mallorca, -4.8 %; in Eivissa, -6.6 %; in Menorca, -6.5 %, and Formentera, -1.7 %.

In Spain as a whole, year-on-year unemployment fell by 168,417 people (-6.1 %).

The administrative unemployment rate in January was 5.8%, 0.5 points below the figures recorded a year earlier.

By group, and concerning the previous year, unemployment fell among women (-6.6 %), the over 25s (-6.8 %) and Spaniards. On the other hand, it rose among those under 25 (+9.6 %) and non-EU foreigners (+4.1 %). Year-on-year unemployment fell in all sectors except hotels and catering, where it rose by +0.6 %. In agriculture this indicator falls (-12.8 %) and also in industry (-9.5 %).

About the duration of demand, a decrease is observed in all the intervals and, above all, in persons between 7 and 9 months old (-11.1 %).

On a month-on-month basis, unemployment fell compared to December by 632 persons (-2.1%). All the islands experienced a month-on-month fall in unemployment, except Menorca (+0.5 %). Thus, month-on-month unemployment fell in Formentera (-11.4 %), followed by Mallorca (-2.3 %) and Eivissa (-1.3 %). The Balearic Islands is the only autonomous community where unemployment fell in January concerning December. In Spain as a whole, month-on-month unemployment increased by 1.5 %.

By groups, unemployment in the Balearic Islands fell compared with December, especially among men (-3.1%), under-25s (-5.62%) and EU foreigners (-8.2%). In this category, unemployment fell in almost all sectors, especially in hotels and catering (-9.4 %) and agriculture (-5.4 %), while it rose in the group without previous employment by 2.4 % and in commerce by 1.2 %.

The unemployment protection rate in January stood at 44.1%, 1.2 points higher than in January 2024 (42.9%).

Hiring

In terms of hiring, 21,405 new contracts were registered in January in the Balearic Islands, 278 fewer than a year ago (-1.3 %). In this category, hiring increased above all in Formentera (-24.8 %), followed by Mallorca (-1.2 %), Eivissa (-0.9 %) and Menorca (-0.2 %).

In year-on-year terms, recruitment fell among men (-2.8 %), those over 25 years of age (-2.6 %) and EU foreigners (-4.9 %). On the other hand, it increased among women (+0.9%), and more markedly among those under 25 (+4.4%) and non-EU foreigners (+6.6%). By sector, hiring is up in services and especially in commerce (+4.3%) and down mainly in industry (-14.3%) and agriculture (-13.7%).

If we compare the hiring data with the previous month, we observe an increase of 3,568 contracts, a 20 % increase. This increase in hiring is found on all the islands, but especially in Eivissa (+38.2 %), followed by Formentera (+18.1 %), Mallorca (+17.8 %) and Menorca (+11.0 %). By groups, from December to January hiring grew more among men (+29.4 %), those over 25 years of age (+25.1 %) and non-EU foreigners (+28.6 %). Month-on-month hiring increases in almost all sectors, especially in agriculture (+80.3 %) and industry (+78.7 %), and decreases in agriculture (-22.0 %).

In terms of the percentage of permanent contracts out of the total in this category in January, the Balearic Islands continues to lead the ranking by autonomous communities, with 65.4% of permanent contracts compared to 41.9% of the national average. Compared with the previous year, temporary contracts increased by 2.8 % and permanent contracts fell by 3.4 %.