Andalucía: unemployment fell by 2,629 people in February to 588,474

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Over the past year, the region has seen a decrease of 56,000 unemployed, representing a drop of 8.69 per cent, but it's a mixed bag of results across Spain by age, gender and location

EP

Wednesday, 4 March 2026, 14:52

Registered unemployment figures at public employment offices across Andalucía fell by 2,629 people in February compared to the previous month (up 0.44 per cent), totalling 588,474 unemployed, according to data published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy. Over the past year, unemployment has decreased by 56,000 people, which means 8.69 per cent less unemployed.

By sector, unemployment fell in services (down 2,371), construction (down 980), agriculture (down 383) and industry (down 282). Meanwhile, unemployment increased among those with no previous employment (up 1,387).

By February month end, the sectors with the most unemployed were services (409,689) and those with no previous employment (67,270). The sectors with the fewest unemployed were agriculture (30,129), industry (31,876) and construction (49,510).

In terms of gender, of the 588,474 unemployed registered in February, 362,085 were women (down 1,469, or minus 0.4 per cent) and 226,085 were men, which represents a decrease of 1,464 in the number of unemployed compared to the previous month (up 0.64 per cent).

In February, unemployment among the under-25s rose, with 1,755 more unemployed than at January end, while unemployment among those aged 25 and over fell by 4,384.

Unemployment rose in two of Andalucía's eight provinces, with the largest increase in Almeria (up 38), followed by Jaen (up 26). In contrast, it fell in Cadiz (down 889), Huelva (down 654), Malaga (down 495), Cordoba (down 318), Seville (down 314) and Granada (down 23).

In February, 245,547 contracts were registered in Andalucía, down 0.06 per cent on the same month in 2025. Of these, 105,319 were permanent contracts, down 3.13 per cent on February of the previous year, and 140,228 were temporary contracts (2.38 per cent more).

Of the number of contracts registered in February, 57.1 per cent were temporary and 42.9 per cent were permanent.

Unemployment has risen in 11 regions of Spain

Registered unemployment fell in February in six regions of Spain and rose in 11, primarily in Madrid (up 3,694 unemployed), Catalonia (up 2,039) and Castilla-La Mancha (up 1,070). In contrast, the most notable decreases were seen in Andalucía (down 2,629 unemployed), the Basque Country (down 1,146) and Valencia (down 1,102).

At the provincial level, unemployment fell in February in 21 provinces, led by Cadiz (down 889 people), Vizcaya (down 745) and the Balearic Islands (down 706). Conversely, unemployment rose in 31 provinces, with the most significant increases in Madrid (up 3,694 unemployed), Barcelona (up 2,018) and Zaragoza (up 604).

Turning to the foreign working population, unemployment rose by 4,866 compared to the previous month (up 1.4 per cent), bringing the total number of unemployed immigrants to 348,559, which is 14,189 fewer than a year earlier (down 3.9 per cent).

44.1 per cent of contracts were permanent

In February of this year, 1,118,996 contracts were registered, almost 1.9 per cent more than in the same month of 2025.

Of these, 494,001 were permanent contracts, 2.5 per cent higher than a year earlier. In total, 44.1 per cent of contracts signed in February were permanent, a higher percentage than in January, when the proportion of permanent contracts stood at 41.6 per cent.

Among all the permanent contracts, 229,651 full-time contracts were signed in February, 0.2 per cent fewer than in the same month last year. Another 133,764 were fixed-term, intermittent contracts (up 2.6 per cent year-on-year) and 130,586 were permanent part-time contracts (up 7.8 per cent).

Of all contracts signed in February, 624,995 were temporary contracts, 1.3 per cent more than in the same month of 2025. In total, these contracts accounted for 55.8 per cent of all contracts signed in the second month of tax year 2026.

In the first two months of this year, 2.28 million contracts were signed, 1.3 per cent fewer than in the same period of 2025. Of these, 978,296 were permanent contracts (down 1.2 per cent) and 1.3 million were temporary contracts (down 1.4 per cent).