Spain’s registered unemployment rose by 44,419 people from the previous month to 2.356 million in August 2026, exceeding expectations for a 15,400 increase. The total was the lowest recorded for August since 2007, while unemployment was 70,593 below its year-earlier level. Social Security lost 162,840 contributors during the month, the smallest August decline since the Covid-19 pandemic, as education and tourism employment fell seasonally. More than 78,000 education professionals left the system, while the end of the peak tourist season also lifted joblessness. Spain’s labour market created around 680,000 jobs year on year. At the end of the second quarter, the unemployment rate fell to 9.87%, its lowest since the first quarter of 2008, from 10.83% previously and below the 10.7% forecast. Regularisation of foreign workers added 337,917 contributors by August; foreign workers exceeded 3.5 million contributors, representing 15.9% of the labour force. Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz called the labour-market performance "historic job growth," while Second Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz attributed the August deterioration to seasonal work.