Spain is set to add over 80,000 jobs in September as the economy rallies from the coronavirus-related restrictions.
 
This is according to a statement by Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva, who told a news conference: “These data confirm the strong dynamism in Spain’s labour market that we have observed since June,” going on to add that more than half a million people had returned to work since May.
 
The forecast rise in job creation for this month is not far away from the 76,000 jobs added in August, which according to the Social Security Minister was a “magnificent month.”
 
He went on to add that over 20,000 people left Spain’s ‘ERTE’ furlough scheme in the first half of September, Reuters reports, with around 25,000 still enrolled in the programme. In Q2 last year, a total of 3.6 million people throughout the country were supported by the ‘ERTE’ scheme.

Out of this total, approximately 80,000 were now only receiving partial support from the programme, Escriva said, with the remainder not in work at all.

He forecast the cost of keeping so many people on furlough or unemployment throughout the coronavirus crisis has cost the government around €40 billion up to now.

Tourism and related sectors such as air travel made up the majority of people leaving the furlough programme.
 
Last month, unemployment declined in Spain for the sixth consecutive month to reach its lowest point since the start of the pandemic, as widespread vaccinations and relaxed travel restrictions bolstered tourism.