The increase in the number of workers that occurred in Spain in the third quarter of the year is assigned exclusively to foreign and dual national employees. Of the 138,000 new jobs created between July, August and September, 77,000 are for workers with dual nationality and 73,000 for foreigners. These two figures actually add up to 150,000, which means that those born in our country remained in the labor market during this period. In the third quarter, according to Active Population Survey prepared by the INE, there were 12,000 fewer Spanish employees than in the second.

This phenomenon is not new, and it is even beginning to draw a recognizable pattern. In the second quarter of this year (from April to June) Spaniards contributed 198,000 jobs compared to the previous quarter, compared to 107,000 for employees with dual nationality and 130,000 for foreigners. The first quarter (January to March, the worst for the labor market) was once again characterized by a decline in the employment of Spaniards (-123,000) and a better performance of foreigners (-33,000) and those with dual nationality (+16,000). And in the last year of last year (from October to December 2023, with which we complete 12 months), only foreign employment increased, with 11,000 more employees, compared to the decline of 37,000 workers with dual nationality and 30,000 Spaniards. .

As seen in the following graph, the dynamics were similar in the rest of the quarters of 2023 and 2022.

The quarter in which the gap between the employment of Spaniards and that of foreigners and workers with dual nationality is most clearly observed is the third, exactly the one addressed by the EPA published this Friday. So, especially in July and August, tourism gains strength, a sector in which there are more foreigners than in the average economy. In hospitality, according to Social Security data (which, unlike the INE, does not disaggregate those with dual nationality), 27% of the workers are of foreign origin, while in the total membership they represent around 13.5%. It is a sector very precariouswith the longest agreed hours and very low salaries.

At the same time, the third trimester is characterized by collapse of occupation in educationa sector that hardly employs foreigners (they are only around 5% of those affiliates). This is complemented by the layoffs in the rest of the economy derived from the holidays: as activity stops in so many municipalities in July and August, some companies in all types of sectors take the opportunity not to renew or terminate contracts.

In the last year, taking the third quarter as a reference, Spain has created 377,000 jobs. Of them, 48% correspond to foreign workers, 43% to employees with dual nationality and only the remaining 9% to Spanish employees. Last year the difference was smaller: of the 701,000 jobs created, 50% were for foreigners, 16% for workers with dual nationality and 34% for Spaniards. The last year in which more jobs were created for Spaniards than for the other two groups was 2021, still in the embers of the pandemic: then 666,000 jobs were created for Spaniards, 156,000 for foreigners and 104,000 for citizens with dual nationality.

Before, during the end of the Great Recession that began in 2008, the Spanish always provided more jobs. Since the outbreak of the real estate crisis, the only year that was different was 2019, on the brink of the pandemic. And before, while the bubble was swelling, Spaniards almost always provided more employment, with the exception of 2007. Then 306,000 positions were created for Spaniards, 333,000 for foreigners and 24,000 with dual nationality. This last group, then scarce, is now essential, since with the passage of time more and more obtain Spanish nationality.

With these data, the weight of foreigners and employees with dual nationality in total employment is increasing. Today Spaniards make up 79.4% of the country’s workforce, of which 5.5% also have dual nationality and 15.1% are foreigners. In 2019, just five years ago, Spaniards were 84.3%, those with dual nationality were 3.5% and foreigners were 12.2%. In the first data available, from 2008, the first ones were 85.2%, the second ones were 0.9% and the third ones were 13.9%.

Immigrant women are the group that suffers the worst average salaries in the economy: they earned 13,401 gross euros on average in 2022, according to data from the Tax Agency. They are about 3,500 less than the average earned by foreign workers, 16,950 euros. The best paid are Spanish employees (26,488 euros), followed by Spanish women (21,033 euros). Foreign women and men also fare worse in terms of temporary employment or partiality, among other labor variables.