Spain's shops lose 912 self-employed people in August

Spain’s retail sector lost 912 self-employed people in August, taking the total registered in the sector to 649,236 — below 650,000 again. The warning came from Madrid on Wednesday, 2 September, after the release of August unemployment and registration figures. The Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers, known as UPTA, says small shops are nearing a breaking point and wants action to stop further closures.

UPTA says the losses show the strain on smaller retailers. It points to rising running costs, slimmer profit margins and difficulties finding successors to take over businesses.

Retail and hospitality both fall

Hospitality lost 939 self-employed people in August, leaving 329,753 registered in the sector. Retail and hospitality together shed 1,851.

Manufacturing was down by 288 self-employed people. Education lost 625, falling to 105,684, with UPTA linking the drop to the strong seasonal effect of the summer months.

Warning behind the overall growth

UPTA president Eduardo Abad said small shops have been losing self-employed people for too long while costs rise faster than margins. If that continues, he warned, many businesses could shut for good, affecting economic activity and life in neighbourhoods and municipalities.

The overall self-employed system still has more than 58,000 additional registrations than a year earlier. But Abad said the headline figure masks sharp differences between sectors: construction added more self-employed people in August than the net growth across the whole system, while retail and hospitality went backwards.

The task, he said, is not simply to create new registrations but to help those already running a business keep it open.

Topics: Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com