"Without a doubt, when I am Prime Minister unemployment will go down." This is what Mariano Rajoy said before he was elected. Today, two and a half years after he arrived at Moncloa, his wish has come true. In November of 2011, national unemployment numbers showed that 4.42 people were jobless. But numbers from yesterday's latest report show that only 4.41 million people are unemployed.
In July of this year, jobless claims fell by 29,841 people to 4,419,860 in total. Data from INEM (Spain's National Employment System) and the Survey of the Active Population show that the job market is turning around and, critically, there has been a net increase to Social Security filings. In fact, last month those filings saw the highest jump since 2007.
But there's still a lot of work to do. For example, we can improve the quality of new jobs, and the government is focused on creating "stable and good-quality jobs." Somewhat alarming, long-term unemployed workers and those who have maxed out their unemployment benefits are still struggling. Even so, we are heading into what looks like a solid rebound, and experts agree that the improvement is a result of the government?s labor reform efforts.
While weaker than expected, these reforms have fueled a mild and welcome increase in jobs. Some measures were key, such as reducing how much severance companies have to pay to laid off workers or suppressing expensive collective bargaining agreements. Further, the fact that labor reforms hit all sectors except for agriculture shows that the recovery has a solid foundation in a fresh labor market.