Spain's employment landscape has displayed notable discrepancies as official statistics indicate a registered unemployment count of 2.5 million, while actual unemployment is estimated to exceed 3.19 million, marking a gap of 672,519 individuals.

This month of May reported the weakest job creation since the pandemic, and the second lowest for May since 2013, with only 195,736 jobs added.

The reduction in registered unemployment by 57,835 individuals in May (-2.30%) pushes the count below 2.5 million for the first time since July 2008, though the methodology for counting has evolved since that period.

Year-on-year comparisons note a drop of 152,967 individuals (-5.87%) in registered unemployment; however, seasonal adjustments reveal a minor decrease of 12,250 individuals.

Spain remains the only nation in the European Union with a double-digit unemployment rate, currently at 10.9%, while the EU average stands around 6%.

This reflects a broader trend, as the EU is experiencing historically low unemployment figures nearing full employment.

The effective unemployment rate, which includes job seekers with active employment relations and accounts for workers on furlough (ERTE), exceeds 3.19 million, similar to figures seen in 2019.

The affiliation to the Social Security system exceeded 21.5 million workers in May, after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects.

This represented an increase of 20,790 affiliates month-on-month and 455,232 compared to the previous year (+2.2%).

The average number of affiliates is nearing 21.8 million.

However, the current growth is slower than in previous years, suggesting a deceleration in job creation.

The year-on-year employment growth declined by 2.17% in the fifth month of the year, as earlier monthly increases did not reach similar levels.

Youth unemployment saw a decrease, with 6,426 fewer individuals under 25 unemployed compared to the previous month, settling at 171,003, yet the unemployment rate for this demographic remains over 26%, significantly higher than the EU average of 14.5%.

Female unemployment fell by 29,066 women (-1.92%) in May, bringing the total to 1,486,421, which is the lowest figure since October 2008. However, the female unemployment rate stands at 12.2%, more than double the EU average of 6%.

In terms of employment contracts, a total of 1.328 million new contracts were recorded, of which 552,697 were permanent, accounting for 41.59% of all contracts.

However, only 16.8% of these permanent positions were full-time, while part-time contracts made up 9.4%.

The majority of these contracts were temporary, totaling 776,286, or 58.6% of new hires.

Consequently, only 16 out of every 100 contracts signed can be classified as truly permanent, and 6% of workers entered into multiple permanent contracts.