Unemployment in Spain falls beneath 10% for the primary time in 17 years after 605,000 jobs have been created in 2025 | Economy | EUROtoday

The evolution of employment continues to present excellent news to Spain: the unemployment charge is minimally beneath 10% for the primary time since 2008. Active Population Survey (EPA) for the fourth quarter of 2025 printed this Tuesday signifies that the proportion of unemployed in comparison with the whole energetic inhabitants is 9.93%, seven tenths beneath final yr. The final time Spain reported an unemployment charge of lower than 10% was within the first quarter of 2008 (9.6%), initially of the rise on this variable throughout that deep financial disaster. The lower within the proportion of unemployed coincides with one other yr of robust job creation, with 605,400 extra employed individuals, reaching a brand new document of twenty-two.46 million employed individuals. Spain is, as soon as once more, the nation that gives probably the most new jobs within the European Union.

These employment knowledge happen in a context of strong macroeconomic progress. The GDP elevated by 2.9% final yr and the Bank of Spain’s forecast is that it’s going to develop one other 2.2% in 2026. The International Monetary Fund anticipates yet another tenth (2.3%) of a rise throughout this yr and that Spain can be one of many superior economies that features probably the most momentum.

The 605,400 new jobs that Spain gained in 2025 imply a determine increased than that of 2024, which was already an excellent yr for the labor market. Then the variety of staff grew by 468,200 individuals, 2.2% in relative phrases, whereas the rise within the final yr was 2.8%. Yes, the rise within the labor market in 2023 was extra vigorous, with 749,000 extra staff and a rise of three.6%, though it needs to be famous that that was the primary comparatively regular yr. after the well being disaster.

These annual knowledge are based mostly on a optimistic quarterly evolution, in a interval marked by the Christmas marketing campaign: Spain gained 76,200 staff from the third to the fourth quarter of 2025, greater than double that of a yr earlier than (+34,900). Thus, the whole variety of employed individuals climbs to 22.46 million, a brand new historic most.

The variety of unemployed, nonetheless, decreases much less strongly than final yr. There are 118,400 fewer unemployed individuals in Spain on the finish of 2025 than in the identical interval of 2024. Last yr this determine contracted by 265,300 individuals and in 2023, by 220,800. However, the relative knowledge, with a lower of 4.6% within the final yr, improves that which was registered simply earlier than the pandemic, from 2019 to 2018 (-3.4%).

In quarterly phrases, which assist higher clarify seasonal dynamics, the variety of unemployed falls by 136,100 individuals, a extra modest lower than that of the identical interval final yr (-158,600). These traits depart the whole unemployed at 2.48 million, for the primary time since 2008 beneath 2.5 million.

Despite the optimistic side of the autumn within the unemployment charge to 9.9%, with a contraction of seven tenths all through 2025, a weakening of the advance can as soon as once more be seen, since in each 2024 and 2023 the speed contracted by 1.2 factors. Spain continues to be one of many international locations with the worst unemployment charge within the European Union, removed from the typical of the Twenty-seven (6%) regardless of the sustained enchancment lately.

The Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, believes that these EPA knowledge present that “employment maintains its dynamism.” “In addition, it has been accompanied by a continued improvement in employment stability, since permanent contracts have increased by almost 550,000 [en el último año]. It is worth highlighting the push of the private sector, which represents 92% of the employment created in the last 12 months,” provides the top of Economy.