One of lime and another of sand in the affiliation and unemployment data that the Ministries of Labor and Social Security have just released. On the one hand, employment has broken a new record by surpassing the barrier of 22.6 million members after adding 186,612 in October, the largest increase for this month in the entire historical series, driven by the massive incorporation of professionals in the Education sector, which once again adjusts its employment pools with the start of the new school year, recovering many of the workers who were laid off during the summer period. Although in the same period unemployment grew by 43,128 people, double that at this time last year and the largest increase since 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After an Active Population Survey (EPA) in the third quarter of the year in which the unemployment rate once again exceeded the 10% barrier despite the employment record driven by foreigners, the October records of Social Security and Sepe repeat the pattern. The labor market breaks another employment record while continuing to incorporate immigrants through the extraordinary regularization process, but it is beginning to show signs of exhaustion, since, although it continues to generate jobs, it is beginning to not be able to absorb them at the rate at which people looking for work join.
The data speak for themselves: in September almost 187,000 contributors joined, but at the same time the Sepe incorporated more than 43,000 unemployed. In the last year, Social Security has registered more than 784,500 new affiliates, which implies a notable growth rate of 3.6%, while the year-on-year rate of decline in unemployment is barely 0.86%, which implies that there are about 21,000 fewer unemployed than in October of last year. Meanwhile, in the last month alone unemployment has risen more than double that figure, reflecting the marked instability that continues to characterize the national labor market.
On the affiliation side, it must also be taken into account that these figures would not have been possible without the massive regularization of immigrants launched by the Government of Pedro Sánchez last April. And, according to data provided by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, at the end of October, the number of registered foreign affiliates related to the extraordinary process is 490,586. By country of origin, the country with the most new members from this process is Colombia (27.6%), followed by Venezuela (15.7%). In addition, the department headed by Elma Saiz also reports that since April, 557,410 members have been registered for at least one day.
In general, the behavior of foreigners' membership is "especially dynamic", as highlighted by the Ministry in its press release. Workers from other countries already represent 16.4% of the total number of affiliates in Spain. In average terms, Social Security is approaching 3.7 million workers from other countries for the first time, specifically, there are now 3,699,878. According to the latest data, there are 63,899 more than in September and 598,378 more than a year ago, which implies that foreign affiliation accounts for more than 76% of all the increase in employment in the last year. That is, immigrants have occupied practically three out of every four new jobs since October 2025.
In October, the greatest job loss occurred in the hospitality industry, which closed the month with almost 45,000 fewer members than in September. Health activities were trailing behind, with a drop of nearly 29,000 contributors. The biggest increases, on the contrary, occurred in education, which continues to recover professionals after the summer break in which companies and administrations send teachers to unemployment. Specifically, the sector accumulated 166,000 registrations, accounting for practically 90% of all employment growth recorded in the month.
