The election period has raised a number of topical issues. Employment is not among the first. It is remarkable, especially when the majority of the population is employed and we have not yet overcome the consequences of the Great Recession. On the other hand, the signs of the next crisis are becoming increasingly apparent, which will directly affect employment.

The concept of Gross Domestic Product is often used to analyse whether the recession has been overcome. However, GDP does not tell how the wealth generated has been distributed. Making this analysis from the point of view of employment seems logical because the majority of society needs employment in order to survive. In any case, when governments send us the statistics, they stress the number of contracts signed, an obvious trick. This is not a good practice: the labour reforms carried out have led to an increase in the average number of contracts for a worker over a given period of time, so the signing of a large number of contracts does not mean that there are fewer people unemployed. It can be a sign of precariousness, an image of the opposite that you want to sell. On the other hand, the unemployment rate is also used as a thermometer in the labor market, but its use is subject to two main criticisms. On the one hand, it does not measure the quality of employment, which allows us to have a lower unemployment rate, with worse working conditions. On the other hand, these statistics will define a higher or lower unemployment rate that does not come in and that does not come in: young people who pursue their studies, because there is no possibility of employment, will not be counted as unemployed; or if we define an unemployed person as “discouraged”, this will reduce their unemployment rate. Although the statistics appear to be very neutral, there may be political beliefs in the definitions that are made.

Then, I will make a new approach to the employment situation, using the number of people employed, analyzing data from the peninsular Basque Country and the period 2007-2018. In the private sector, the number of men on permanent contracts has decreased by 28,000 and the number of women has increased by 44,000. Since the toughest time of the crisis (2013), temporary contracts have increased by 68,000, to levels similar to those in 2008: It's 201,500 men and women.

Among the jobs linked to the public sector, after the fall of the Great Recession there has been an increase in temporality, with 48,600 women and 21,400 men in this situation. This precarious situation is more evident in the CAV than in Navarra. The number of permanent jobs has increased slightly, but between now and 2010, the number of men is virtually the same (57,700) and the number of women has increased slightly, with the number of employees at 75,200.

By sector, the sector with the most staff is that of services, with 34,200 men and 32,000 more women. In the construction sector there are more than half of the workers than in 2008 and employment in the agricultural sector is in free decline. The industry continues to suffer a heavy loss, as in the period 2008-2018 there are 31,500 less industrial workers in the CAV, while in Navarre it remains at similar levels.

With this data I do not want to squeeze the reader, I just want to comment on the situation of the world of work, the data are there, although I have analyzed a few elements. The employment situation has not recovered at all, and this long ten-year recession has serious consequences for people. When poverty is prolonged, care must be taken of the consequences that may arise, including politicians.