Spain reached a new employment record in September. Social Security (Seguridad Social) recorded 92,327 additional contributors compared with August, bringing the total to 22,437,553 employed people. This was announced by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration on 2 October 2026. This is the highest increase ever recorded in a September. According to the authorities, the rise is largely due to the extraordinary regularisation of migrants that has been under way since April.
The increase represents a 0.41 per cent rise, without seasonal adjustment. Around nine in ten new registrations are foreign workers; the number of foreign contributors grew by 84,220 month on month. This brings employment that was previously often in the informal sector into the official statistics.
Meanwhile, the number of people registered as unemployed with the public employment service SEPE rose by 23,587 in September to 2,379,505. Despite the monthly increase, the figure for a September is at its lowest since 2007. The authorities attribute the simultaneous rise in unemployment mainly to many people initially registering as jobseekers with no previous employment during the regularisation process, before taking up a job.
The trends vary by sector. There was a marked increase in the Education sector, where, at the start of the school year teaching and support staff, as well as administrative staff, return in large numbers. Administrative activities and professional services also contributed to the increase. These patterns are typical for September, but this year they were amplified by the regularisation.
The trend has a dual economic effect: in the short term, both the number of contributors and – for statistical reasons – the number of registered unemployed people are rising. In the medium to long term, the wider contribution base increases Social Security revenue and improves the labour-market data. The implementation of the regularisation presents Governmentwith operational tasks in registration, training and job placement.
The figures cited come from announcements published on 2 October 2026 by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration on trends in the Seguridad Social, and from government SEPE data.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).