Spain marks new employment record despite global uncertainty | Sur in English

“We have passed the historical peak of 22 million employed people,” Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz said when she presented the employment figures in March.

In seasonally adjusted terms – that is, excluding the effects of the calendar – employment in Spain exceeded that threshold for the first time, reaching 22,010,532 people. However, this milestone comes with an important caveat. The 22 million figure refers to seasonally adjusted figures, while the average employment rate, the collective average, stands at 21.88 million. This difference is important and affects how the numbers should be interpreted.

The data also took on an unusual political dimension. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the figures on social media ahead of the official release date, highlighting the record and highlighting the growing importance of economic data in public debate as his term in office approaches.

With two tweets on X, the Prime Minister celebrated that Spain exceeded 22 million people for the first time. At 7.22am on Monday, a somewhat misleading message appeared on his official log: 22. This text passed the legal curfew of 9am.

The figure was later supplemented by another message announcing an important event in the Spanish labor market. Wearing the national team’s second kit for the World Cup, which will be held in the US, Mexico and Canada this summer, Sánchez says: “You are the ones who lift, push and build this country. The team that makes history.”

Easter, which this year fell in early April, also boosted hiring in March, with an additional 80,274 people working in that month alone.

Membership averages remain high and clearly show strength ahead of the holiday season: Social Security added 211,510 members in March, the best number this month in the entire series.

The services sector is driving growth: hospitality leads job creation with around 80,000 new members and alone accounts for almost half of the monthly increase, before construction and administrative jobs, which each added more than 17,000, or education, with around 15,000 new jobs. Transport, health care and industry are also growing, albeit at a slower pace, confirming the main role of tourism and demand in this period.

The strong performance in March is not an isolated event. It is part of a broader trend that began after the worst years of the financial crisis. Between 2011 and 2013, the system lost members at an annual rate of nearly 4% to a low of 16.1 million. Since 2014, there has been a steady recovery, which, with the interruption of the epidemic, has brought the number of people employed to record more than 21.8 million in 2026.

The data from this past March take on a special significance: it not only confirms the current strength of the labor market but also exceeds the average figures from the previous growth period, combining the best start of the tourist season in the whole series.

The government also said that this trend could continue in the coming months. Officials of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security are expecting a period of increased employment in the labor market, supported by the current pace and strengthening of the tourist season.

Unemployment is low

Unemployment also continues to decline. March ended with 2.42 million registered unemployed, a number not seen in that month for 19 years. This marks the fourth consecutive year of annual decline, a trend that began in 2022 and reduced unemployment by about 690,000 people. In the past year alone, unemployment has fallen by more than 160,000, a 6.2% decrease.

Development is widespread. Unemployment is falling among men and women, youth and adults and across all major sectors of the economy. Female unemployment is at levels not seen in March since 2008, while youth unemployment hit historic lows this month. By sector, the largest relative deficits are in construction (-12.3%) and agriculture (-12.2%), although corrections are everywhere.

Recruiting also reflects this dynamic. In March, more than 1.3 million contracts were signed, which is 12.4% more than in March last year. Permanent contracts now represent about 44% of the total, which combines the change in the structure of work after the change of work. However, within this category, fixed-term contracts stand out, increasing by around 23% year-on-year. This type of contract is more prevalent in seasonal sectors and suggests that some temporary jobs have changed rather than disappeared. All of this is happening in a context where, for now, environmental uncertainty, market volatility and rising energy costs do not seem to be negatively impacting the quality of work.

At the regional level, improvement is widespread, although not uniform. Andalucía, Catalonia and Valencia have seen the biggest drops in unemployment, mainly due to a heavy reliance on tourism, which also reflects the employment’s dependence on seasonal work. On the other hand, places like the Canary Islands, Madrid and the Basque Country registered a small monthly increase.

For a moment, the data also do not show a significant impact from international instability, including the Iran war, or from market fluctuations or rising energy costs, which confirms the idea that the work maintains an impressive capacity to withstand in the short term. However, the government insists on the need to remain vigilant in the face of international economic uncertainty.

Despite the generally correct balance, there are reasons for caution. The demand for jobs increased slightly in agriculture and among new job seekers. This increase is mainly due to the strength of the labor market, which encourages more people to enter the labor market. Even more surprising is the increase in unemployment among young immigrants, which has increased by 6.4% year-on-year. In addition to this is the increase in the use of benefits, which reached 1,610 euros per month for the recipient, almost 24% more than the year before, which shows a great burden on the social security system.