Unemployment falls by 36,323 in May, bringing the total down to 2,320,721, the lowest level in that month since 2007

News - 2026.6.2

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The number of unemployed people registered with the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), at the end of May, decreased by 36,323 in relation to the previous month (-1.54%).

Total registered unemployment stood at 2,320,721 people.

Compared to May 2025, unemployment fell by 134,162 people (-5.47%).

Unemployment by economic sector

Registered unemployment is down in all economic sectors compared to April. In Services, it has decreased by 29,829 people (-1.74%), in Industry by 2,665 people (-1.46%), in Construction by 2,304 people (-1.42%) and in Agriculture by 1,628 people (-2.26%).

The group of people with no previous employment saw no significant change, with only 98 more people registered (0.04%).

Registered unemployment by sex and age

Female unemployment fell by 20,316 people (-1.43%) in relation to April and stood at 1,404,110.

Male unemployment fell by 16,007 people (-1.72%), bringing the total to 916,611 unemployed men.

Compared to May 2025, male unemployment fell by 51,851 (-5.35%) and female unemployment by 82,311 (-5.54%).

Unemployment among young people under 25 years of age fell in May by 4,738 people (-2.79%) compared to the previous month. The total stands at 164,955 people. This is the first time it has fallen below the 165,000 mark in May.

Unemployment by autonomous community

Registered unemployment in May 2026 fell in 17 autonomous communities. In absolute terms, the largest falls were in Andalusia (-9,125 people), Catalonia (-6,900 people) and the Community of Madrid (-3,834 people).

New contracts

The total number of contracts registered in May was 1,323,719. Of these, 572,061 were permanent contracts, representing 43.22% of all contracts.

Unemployment benefits in April

The total number of beneficiaries at the end of April was 1,779,989.

The average monthly payment per beneficiary, excluding the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, in April 2026 was €1,168.30, an increase of €22.60 (2.0%) compared to the same month of the previous year.

The unemployment protection system coverage rate during April was 80.90%.

The total investment in benefits in April 2026 amounted to €2.0409 billion.

Non official translation