Spain's jobless total rises by 95,900 in Q3 as employment reaches a record

Unemployment rises through the summer

The number of unemployed people in Spain grew by 95,900 in the third quarter of 2026, a 3.8% increase on the previous quarter, according to the Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA) published on Tuesday, 27 October by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). The INE figure for the jobless total is 2,591,200, although some outlets reported 2,591,300. The unemployment rate reached 10.18%, three tenths of a point above the 9.87% recorded in the second quarter. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business described that rate as the lowest for a third quarter since 2007, while El País put it as the lowest figure since 2008. The rise is the largest for a third quarter since 2020.

Employment still hits a record

Employment grew by 73,600 people (+0.3%) in the quarter, the smallest third-quarter increase since 2019, yet the total reached a new high of 22,852,600 workers. Other outlets gave figures close to 22.85 million. Seasonally adjusted figures, which the Ministry cited, showed employment up 70,000 (+0.31%) to 22,729,600. Over the past year, employment rose by 465,500 (+2.1%) while unemployment fell by 21,900 (-0.8%). The labour force grew by 169,500 in the quarter to a record 25,443,800, and the activity rate rose two tenths to 59.5%.

Q3 2023188,100

Q3 2024138,300

Q3 2025118,400

Q3 202673,600

Q3 2023

188100 persons

Q3 2024

138300 persons

Q3 2025

118400 persons

Q3 2026

73600 persons

Data from the article text

Foreign workers and the public sector

All of the employment growth came from foreign nationals, whose number rose by 75,400 (+2%), while Spanish nationals lost 1,800 jobs (-0.01%). Unemployment rose by 71,400 among Spanish nationals (+3.8%) and by 24,500 among foreign nationals (+3.9%), so Spanish nationals accounted for the larger share of the rise in joblessness. By sector, the public sector added 89,900 jobs while the private sector shed 16,300. The gain was therefore concentrated in public employment at a time when private employers reduced headcount.

Spanish nationals-1,800

Foreign nationals75,400

Spanish nationals

-1800 persons

Foreign nationals

75400 persons

Data from the article text

Public sector89,900

Private sector-16,300

Public sector

89900 persons

Private sector

-16300 persons

Data from the article text

Regularisation and household data

The extraordinary regularisation of migrants under way this summer forms the backdrop to the figures. El País noted that the EPA already counts those workers as employed, so the regularisation does not determine these data, while eldiario reported that more than 400,000 additional affiliates had joined Social Security records through the process. Households in which all members were unemployed rose by 21,800 to 786,100 (+2.8%) in the quarter, and households with all members employed fell by 47,600 to 12,226,100. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business said the household figures reflect the strength of the labour market. El Confidencial linked the slowdown to a context shaped by the war in the Middle East and the resulting energy inflation, which may already be weighing on Spanish firms despite a good tourist season.

Catalonia

In Catalonia, the number of unemployed rose by 18,900 (+5.5%) to 361,800 in the quarter, lifting the regional rate to 8.30% from 7.9%. The region was the seventh autonomous community with the largest absolute rise. Compared with a year earlier, unemployment in Catalonia was 49,300 higher, a relative increase of 2.76%.