After summer holiday season ends, unemployment starts to rise in Malaga and along the Costa del Sol

The labour market in Malaga has just experienced its regular September hill to climb: sometimes it is steeper, other times less so. This year, the beginning of autumn has brought a moderate rise in unemployment, with 637 more people registered on the SAE list (employment assistance system for jobseekers on unemployment benefits) in the Costa del Sol province. Furthermore, it is worth remembering that in August, a month in which unemployment typically rises due to the expiring of temporary contracts in the tourism sector, Malaga escaped this increase. Therefore, the province begins October with 109,366 unemployed, which is 8,266 fewer than just a year ago, or 7% down in percentage terms.

Where the loss of activity due to the end of the summer has been most evident is in the number of workers registered with the Social Security system: that is, in employment. Throughout September, an average of 751,129 people were registered in the province, which is 6,114 fewer than in the preceding month of August. Even so, this registration total is an all-time high for Malaga for the month of September. There has also been a year-on-year increase of 24,333 contributors, which in percentage terms is equivalent to 3.35%, the second highest employment growth rate on the Spanish mainland after that of Valencia.

One question that arises at this point is why the rise in unemployment (by 637 people) does not match the number of jobs lost (over 6,000). There are several reasons for this discrepancy. To begin with, some people do not register as jobseekers when they stop working because they are students preparing to start their academic year, or because they are from other provinces who came to Malaga for summer work and have now returned home, or because they are not entitled to any benefits and therefore have no reason to sign on for employment assistance with SAE. Furthermore, since the labour reform placed more restrictions on temporary contracts, many seasonal employees in the hospitality industry have become seasonally-permanent employees and, when they cease to be actively working, they are no longer considered unemployed for statistical purposes, although they are no longer registered with Social Security and paying contributions.

Turning to the trend in unemployment, the September increase was almost entirely concentrated in the services sector, which registered 977 more unemployed. In contrast, the construction sector recovered, recouping 435 unemployed at the start of the autumn. Agriculture experienced a slight decrease of 73 people, coinciding with the grape harvest and the start of work for the olive grove campaign, and industrial unemployment rose by 21 people. The previously unemployed group increased by 147 more jobseekers.

The end of peak season has also hit women harder than men in terms of employment, with 489 more unemployed women and 148 unemployed men. This divergence fuels the gender unemployment gap with 61% of Malaga's jobseekers being women.

However, September's statistics leave one encouraging statistic: hiring has increased, especially for permanent contracts. Last month 53,025 employment contracts were signed in Malaga, 31% up on those signed in August and, more importantly, 11.8% up on those signed in September of last year. Of this total of contracts, 49% (6,043) were permanent. This represents an increase of 14.7% compared to the same month in 2024.