Spanish Firms Create 97,000 Jobs In May In First Growth Amid COVID-19 Pandemic - Reports

Spanish Firms Create 97,000 Jobs in May in First Growth Amid COVID-19 Pandemic - Reports

The Spanish government has confirmed over 97,000 new social security registrations, a marker of job growth, in May, in the first observed increase in employment since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, domestic media reports on Tuesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2020) The Spanish government has confirmed over 97,000 new social security registrations, a marker of job growth, in May, in the first observed increase in employment since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, domestic media reports on Tuesday.

According to El Pais newspaper, 97,462 new contributors to the social security system were confirmed in May.

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, a total of 760,082 social security contributors have left the system, the newspaper reported, amid widespread layoffs across Spain, particularly in the tourism sector, caused by the lockdown to curb the spread of the disease.

Despite the rise in job creation, the number of registered unemployed people increased in May by 26,573, the newspaper cited the government as saying.

Roughly three million people in Spain remain furloughed as part of the country's ERTE temporary layoff initiative, which allows those affected to claim unemployment benefits.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has previously said that Spain hopes to welcome foreign tourists from July. The tourism sector accounts for roughly 13 percent of the country's jobs.

The Spanish government is continuing to ease lockdown measures that were first put into force in March as the country appears to have passed the peak of its COVID-19 outbreak. On Monday, Spanish public health officials reported no new deaths due to complications from the coronavirus disease for the first time since March.

Since the start of the outbreak, more than 239,600 people in Spain have tested positive for the coronavirus disease. The country's COVID-19 death toll currently stands at 27,127.