Spain marks new employment record despite global uncertainty

"We have passed the historic milestone of 22 million employed people," Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz said at the presentation of March employment figures.

In seasonally adjusted terms - that is, stripping out calendar effects - employment in Spain exceeded that threshold for the first time, reaching 22,010,532 people. This milestone, however, comes with an important caveat. The 22 million figure refers to seasonally adjusted data, whereas the standard measure of employment, average affiliation, stands at 21.88 million. This difference is significant and affects how the figures should be interpreted.

The data also took on an unusually political dimension. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez published the figures on social media ahead of the official release time, highlighting the record and underlining the growing importance of economic data in the public debate as his term in office draws to a close.

With two tweets on X, the Prime Minister celebrated that Spain has surpassed 22 million employed people for the first time. At 7.22am on Monday, a nearly erroneous message appeared on his official account: 22. This text bypassed the official embargo of 9am.

That figure was later complemented by another message announcing the milestone in the Spanish labour market. Wearing the national team's second kit for the World Cup, to be held in the US, Mexico and Canada this summer, Sánchez says: "You are the ones who lift, push and build this country. A team that is making history."

The timing of Easter, which this year fell in early April, also boosted hiring in March, with 80,274 additional people in work in that month alone.

Average affiliations remain at record highs and clearly reflect the boost prior to the holiday period: Social Security added 211,510 members in March, the best figure for this month in the entire series.

The services sector primarily drives the growth: hospitality leads job creation with nearly 80,000 new members and alone accounts for almost half of the monthly increase, far ahead of construction and administrative activities, which each added over 17,000, or education, with around 15,000 new jobs. Transportation, healthcare and industry are also growing, albeit less rapidly, confirming the central role of tourism and demand during 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% reaching a low of around 16.1 million. Since 2014, a sustained recovery has taken place, which, with the interruption of the pandemic, has brought the number of employed to record highs of over 21.8 million in 2026.

The data from this past March takes on particular significance: it not only confirms the current strength of the labour market but also surpasses the usual figures from the previous growth period, consolidating the best start to the tourist season in the entire series.

The government also says that this trend could continue in the coming months. Officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security anticipate a period of increased activity in the labour market, supported by current momentum and the boost from the tourist season.

Unemployment also continues with a downward trend. March ended with 2.42 million registered unemployed, a figure not seen for that month in 19 years. This marks the fourth consecutive year of year-on-year declines, a trend that began in 2022 and has reduced unemployment by almost 690,000 people. In the last year alone, unemployment has fallen by more than 160,000 people, a 6.2% decrease.

The improvement is widespread. Unemployment is falling among men and women, young people and adults and in all major economic sectors. Female unemployment is at levels not seen in March since 2008, while youth unemployment has reached historic lows for this month. By sector, the largest relative decreases are in construction (-12.3%) and agriculture (-12.2%), although the adjustment is across the board.

Hiring activity also reflects this dynamism. In March, more than 1.3 million contracts were signed, 12.4% more than in March last year. Permanent contracts now represent nearly 44% of the total, consolidating the change in the employment structure following the labour reform. Within this category, however, fixed-term intermittent contracts stand out, having grown by nearly 23% year-on-year. This type of contract has gained traction in seasonal sectors and suggests that some temporary employment has transformed rather than disappeared. All of this is happening in a context where, for now, geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and rising energy costs do not appear to be negatively impacting job quality.

At the regional level, the improvement is widespread, although not uniform. Andalucía, Catalonia and Valencia have seen the largest drops in unemployment, largely due to their greater reliance on tourism, which again highlights the dependence of employment on seasonal activity. Conversely, regions such as the Canary Islands, Madrid and the Basque Country have registered slight monthly increases.

For the moment, the data also does not reflect a significant impact from international uncertainty, including the war in Iran, nor from market volatility or rising energy costs, which confirms the idea that employment maintains a remarkable capacity for resilience in the short term. Nevertheless, the government insists on the need to remain vigilant in a context of high international economic uncertainty.

Despite the overall positive balance, there are reasons for caution. Unemployment has risen slightly in agriculture and among first-time job seekers. This increase is partly due to the dynamism of the labour market, which is encouraging more people to enter the job market. More striking is the rise in unemployment among young foreigners, which has increased by 6.4% year-on-year. Added to this is the increase in spending on benefits, which has reached 1,610 euros per month per recipient, almost 24% more than a year earlier, reflecting a greater burden on the social protection system.