An employment office in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid). EFE

The year 2015 was a good one for the labor market, with both employment and jobless rates experiencing a positive evolution.

Over the 12-month period, there were more than 533,000 new contributors to the Social Security system, a figure that is used as a measure of job creation. The total number of affiliations rose to 17,308,400 people, according to the Labor Ministry.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed fell by 354,000 people for a total of 4,039,508 individuals without a job. In seasonally adjusted terms, the jobless rate has been dropping for 30 out of the last 32 months.

Broken down by sectors, jobless claims fell predominantly in services (-2.22%), followed by agriculture and fisheries (-1.09%), while they rose in industry (1.25%) and most notably in construction (3.53%).

Social Security affiliations rose significantly in the month of December, with 85,314 new contributors, representing the largest increase since the current series began. Year-on-year, 2015 ended with an average of 533,186 new contributors, a 3.18% rise from the previous year.