Spain posts mixed labour signals

Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 10.83% in the first quarter, a seasonal setback that pushed 231,500 more people into the jobless count. (reuters.com) (ine.es) Spain’s National Statistics Institute said total unemployment reached 2.7086 million people between January and March, up from 9.93% at the end of 2025. Employment fell by 170,300 in the quarter to 22.293 million. (reuters.com) (surinenglish.com) The first-quarter increase was concentrated in services, the sector most exposed after the Christmas tourism season fades. Reuters said economists it polled had expected the unemployment rate to fall to 9.8% instead. (reuters.com) The mixed signal is that the quarterly drop in jobs came alongside a seasonally adjusted employment record of 22.5 million. Reuters said that was 532,300 higher than a year earlier. (reuters.com) That leaves Spain with a labor market that weakened at the start of 2026 but still looks stronger than it did a year ago. The 10.83% rate was still the lowest for any first quarter since 2008. (reuters.com) BBVA Research said employment grew 0.4% quarter on quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, but “hours worked also slowed down” and the active population rebounded. It put the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 10.2%. (bbvaresearch.com) The European Commission had projected Spain’s unemployment rate would fall below 10% in 2026, after estimating 10.4% in 2025. Tuesday’s data shows that path has become bumpier, even if the broader trend remains downward. (ec.europa.eu) (reuters.com) For now, Spain is back in double-digit unemployment on the headline measure, but it is doing so from the strongest first-quarter base in 18 years. (reuters.com)