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Spain employment boom persists 2026

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

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2026-07-29 18:16 UTC → 2026-07-30 05:23 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Late‑July 2026 data continue to show a rapid acceleration in Spain’s labour market. Official INE figures recorded 22.78 million people employed in Q2, a historic peak, and the unemployment rate fell to 9.87 % – the first dip below 10 % since 2008. The surge was driven chiefly by services, especially tourism, while agriculture lagged. Regional contrasts remained stark. Catalonia’s Tarragona recorded the lowest regional unemployment at 10.16 %, yet Granada’s rate jumped to 17.53 % and Cádiz stayed near 17.34 %, underscoring the uneven recovery. Castilla‑La Mancha posted a record 962 100 occupied persons; the latest EPA data noted its lowest unemployment rate in 18 years at 11.81 %. Immigrant workers supplied roughly half of the 272 700 newly active workers, adding 133 300 jobs. The second‑quarter EPA added 486 000 jobs in the April‑June period, raising the total active population to a record 25.27 million. The share of temporary contracts kept falling, reaching only about 15 % of salaried workers, indicating a shift toward more stable employment. The government reiterated that Spain had been the fastest‑growing major EU economy for nearly three years, attributing growth to IT, telecommunications, scientific‑technical sectors, a rise in permanent contracts, higher household incomes, and a rapid energy transition that lifted renewable capacity to 72 % of generation. ~~Overall,~~ The Labour Force Survey confirmed the ~~figures depict a sustained employment boom that underpins Spain’s record economic growth~~ national unemployment rate at 9.87 %, the lowest since 2008, but job‑seekers rose to 22.78 million as roughly 100 000 self‑employed left the labour market, raising concerns over job quality. In Asturias, unemployment rose by 900 people to 43 500, lifting the regional rate by 2.11 % and underscoring the region’s activity (52.4 % vs 59.3 % nationally) despite gains in ~~2026.~~ services, construction and industry.

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