Spain’s Socialists in 2008: 2 million new jobs in the term. By 2011 there were 2.2 million fewer employed
PSOE (2008 manifesto; José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero)February 2008 · PSOE manifesto for the 9 March 2008 general election
«we socialists set ourselves the following goals for the next legislature: Create 2 million new jobs.»
In 2011 there were 18.4 million employed, 2.16 million fewer than in 2007 (20.6 million), against a goal of +2 million; the 2007 level was passed only in 2023.
Fact: Eurostat, lfsa_egan (обследование рабочей силы, совпадает с EPA INE), выпуск 10.09.2026
The programme was written before the crisis, when Spain’s building bubble burst. In 2013 there were 3.4 million fewer people in work than in 2007; the 2007 level was passed only in 2023.
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Spain’s ruling party promised two million new jobs before the 2008 election. Instead the crisis took away more than two million.
First the words: who said it, when and where, verbatim (translations are ours). Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: the stamp is the outcome, below it what came of it. On the chart the dark line is the fact year by year up to the deadline, the pale one after it; the blue dashed line is the promised number from the year of the words to the deadline, the light band the time the promise gave; the ring on the line is when it was said, the ring in the stamp’s colour the fact in the deadline year, beside it how far it landed from the goal. The numbers on the right are the scale.
- PSOE (2008 manifesto; José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero), PSOE manifesto for the 9 March 2008 general election quote
«los socialistas nos fijamos los siguientes objetivos para la próxima legislatura: Crear 2 millones de nuevos empleos.» — we socialists set ourselves the following goals for the next legislature: Create 2 million new jobs.
PSOE, Programa electoral elecciones generales 2008 «Motivos para creer»
- What happened did not come true
In 2011 there were 18.4 million employed, 2.16 million fewer than in 2007 (20.6 million), against a goal of +2 million; the 2007 level was passed only in 2023.
Eurostat, lfsa_egan (обследование рабочей силы, совпадает с EPA INE), выпуск 10.09.2026
Quote: the PSOE manifesto for the 9 March 2008 election. Fact: Eurostat Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egan, matching Spain’s EPA), employed aged 15 and over, annual average. Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
The deadline is “the next legislature” (2008–2012); it ended with an early election on 20 November 2011, so the comparison is for 2011. The same programme named unemployment of about 7%; in 2011 it was 21.4%.
A question for this picture
What is a jobs promise worth if a crisis nobody named begins half a year later?