The number of unemployed people registered in the offices of the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) at the end of March increased by 22,934 in relation to the previous month (-0.9%).
Total registered unemployment stood at 2,419,712, the lowest figure for a month of March in 18 years.
In year-on-year terms, unemployment fell by 160,426 people (-6.2%).
The seasonally adjusted figure is also down by 15,534 people.
Unemployment by sector
By economic sector with respect to February, registered unemployment fell in Services by 18,852 people (-1.1%), Construction by 5,846 people (-3.4%), and Industry by 1,482 people (-0.8%).
It increased very slightly in Agriculture by 365 people (0.5%) and among the previously unemployed by 2,881 people (1.3%).
Unemployment by sex and age
Female unemployment fell by 14,841 women (-1%) to 1,458,572, marking its lowest figure for the month since 2008.
Compared to March 2025, female unemployment fell by 95,206 (-6.1%).
Male unemployment stood at 961,140 men, down 8,093 (-0.8%) from February. Compared with March 2025, male unemployment fell by 65,220 men (-6.4%).
Unemployment of young people under 25 fell in December by 431 people (-0.2%) compared with the previous month. The total number of unemployed young people stands at 188,977, the lowest number recorded for a March in the historical series.
Unemployment by autonomous community
Registered unemployment in March 2026 fell in fourteen Autonomous Communities, with falls in absolute figures occurring in Andalusia (-8,836), Catalonia (-3,777) and Valencia (-2,467).
It varied only slightly in the other three communities: Community of the Canary Islands (843 people), Community of Madrid (342 people), and the Basque Country (179 people).
Contracts
The total number of contracts registered during the month of March was 1,311,070, an increase of 144,469 (12.4%) more than in the same month of the previous year.
Of these, 576,532 employment contracts were permanent, representing 44% of all contracts.
Unemployment benefits in February 2026
Total beneficiaries at the end of February stood at 1,842,216 people.
The coverage of the unemployment protection system during February 2026 was 80.7%, marking its highest value in the historical series in that month.
The average monthly investment per beneficiary, not including the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, in the month of February 2026 was €1,610.2, which represents an increase of €310.7 (23.9%) over the same month of the previous year.
The total investment in February 2026 amounted to over €2.25 billion.
Non official translation
Hospitality worker