The million euro question is always the same: does austerity harm or improve the economy? Macroeconomically, it hurts it, but there are signs that the social fabric reacts to job losses by pushing entrepreneurship. In Spain in the first seven months of 2012 the number of registered self-employed decreased by almost 7 thousand, while in the first seven months of this year it increased by 22 thousand. The percentage of people who have lost their jobs and ventured into setting up micro-enterprises is 15%, three times the historical average.
Again in Spain, the net number of businesses remained stable in the first five months of the year compared to 2012, but the stability hides a lively creation of new businesses: +9,6%. An unemployment rate of 26% leads, if only out of survival instinct, to look for new initiatives. In neighboring Portugal the unemployment rate is 16,4%, and the creation of new businesses marks a +20% compared to last year.
Attachments: Bloomberg – Start-Ups Fill Void Left by Spain�s 26% Unemployment Rate
