Spain’s Social Security count rises by a record 186,612 in October

The average number of people on Spain’s Social Security register rose by 186,612 in October, the biggest gain for that month on record, reaching a monthly average of 22,624,165. A separate jobless register also grew by 43,128, to 2,422,633.

A record October gain

The national figures came from Spain’s Inclusion Ministry on 4 November. Before seasonal adjustment, the rise from September was 186,612, or 0.8%. Over the 12 months to October, the register grew by 784,573 people, or 3.6%.

After seasonal adjustment, the October rise was 90,300. That was below the nearly 109,000 added in September, elDiario.es reported. This adjusted count removes regular changes during the year and helps compare months.

Education added 165,994 people, up 14.1%, as the school year began; El Mundo said this was nearly 90% of the monthly rise. Hotels and restaurants lost 44,974 workers, down 2.6%, while health and social services lost 28,639, down 1.4%. The self-employed count passed 3.5 million for the first time, reaching 3,501,598.

Foreign workers and legal status

Foreign workers averaged 3,699,878 people on the register in October, or 16.4% of the total. Their number rose by 63,899 from September and by 598,378 over the year. The Inclusion Ministry said the migrant status process, which began in April, helped lift the total.

elDiario.es reported that 490,586 foreign workers joined Social Security through the process by October’s end. Since April, 557,410 had been registered for at least one day. These are different counts over different periods, so they should not be added.

The jobless register also grows

The jobless register added 43,128 people in October, its largest rise for that month since 2020. Its total, 2,422,633, was still the lowest October count since 2007. Over the year, registered unemployment fell by about 21,100 people, or 0.9%.

El Español calculated that foreign nationals made up 64% of the rise, or 27,744 people, and that more than 10,270 had never held a job. It also said 84,220 people had registered as unemployed through the status process since April. The Labour Ministry said the process distorts jobless figures. It said the rise was not alarming because many people would find work and time without a job could be brief.

INE’s quarterly Labour Force Survey uses a separate measure. It counted 2,591,200 people out of work in the third quarter, 95,900 more than in the quarter before but 22,000 fewer than a year earlier. It counted 22,852,600 people in work, up 73,600 in the quarter and 465,500 over the year. The survey’s jobless rate was 10.18%, up from 9.87% in the second quarter and down from 10.45% a year earlier.

Eurostat’s adjusted jobless rate for Spain was 10.3% in September, compared with 6.2% across the EU. That September rate is separate from the October Social Security count and the third-quarter survey rate.

Sources: Andalucía Información, elDiario.es, El Mundo, El Español and Eurostat