Unemployment rose by 43,128 people in October, reaching a total of 2,422,633, the lowest figure for this month since 2007

The number of unemployed people registered in the Public State Employment Service offices (SEPE) at the end of October rose by 43,128 people compared to the previous month (1.81 per cent).

The number of registered unemployed stood at 2,422,633. Furthermore, compared with October 2025, the year-on-year unemployment figure fell by 21,133 people (-0.86 per cent).

Unemployment by economic sector

With regard to October, by economic sector, registered unemployment rose in Services by 26,853 people (1.58 per cent), in Industry by 1,911 people (1.06 per cent), in Agriculture by 1,547 people (2.21 per cent) and remained virtually unchanged in Construction, with a rise of 102 people (0.06 per cent). The number of people without previous employment rose by 12,715 (4.87 per cent).

Unemployment by sex and age

Unemployment amongst women rose by 22,700 (1.59 per cent) in October compared with September, reaching 1,451,105. This is the lowest figure for this month since 2007.

This represents a fall in unemployment of 29,360 women (-1.98 per cent) compared with the same month last year.

Male unemployment stands at 971,528, having risen by 20,428 men (2.15 per cent). Compared with October 2025, male unemployment has risen by 8,227 (0.85 per cent).

Among young people under the age of 25, unemployment rose by 15,832 (8.37 per cent) in October compared with the previous month, bringing the total to 204,973

Unemployment by autonomous community

Registered unemployment in October 2026 rose in all 17 autonomous communities, led by Catalonia (8,174 people), the Valencian Community (6,716 people) and Castile and León (4,404 people).

New contracts

The total number of contracts registered during the month of October was 1,491,069.

Of these, 645,173 employment contracts were permanent, representing 43.27 per cent of all contracts.

Unemployment benefits in September

The total number of beneficiaries at the end of the month stood at 1,763,649, with the unemployment protection scheme covering 80.82 per cent of them - the highest rate ever recorded for the month of September in the historical series.

The average monthly payment per beneficiary, excluding the agricultural subsidy in Andalusia and Extremadura, in September 2026 was 1,233.90 euros, an increase of 13.60 euros (1.1 per cent) compared to the same month of the previous year.

The total investment in September 2026 amounted to 2.1348 billion euros.

Non official translation