Registered unemployment in the offices of public employment services rose by 44,419 people in August compared to the previous month (+1.92%) due, above all, to the services sector, which added almost 29,000 unemployed in the month, according to data published this morning by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy. This is the worst figure for an August since 2019, when unemployment rose by 54,371 people. In August of last year, unemployment rose by 21,905 people.
After the rise in August, the total number of unemployed stood at 2,355,918 people, remaining below the threshold of 2.4 million.
On the other hand, Social Security lost an average of 162,840 contributors in August compared to the previous month (-0.72%) due to the usual seasonal impact resulting from the end of the summer season and the halt in activities such as education and industry, with the total number of average contributors at 22,345,226 workers, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration reported this Wednesday.
The extraordinary regularisation process for immigrants has contributed almost 340,000 new contributors in August, so the decrease in average affiliation last month is the smallest in an August since 2021, when it fell by 118,004 people, improving the figures from August 2025 (-199,300 contributors), 2024 (-193,704) and 2023 (-185,385).
By countries of origin, Colombia leads the registrations, with 97,376 contributors, followed by Venezuela, with 66,733 contributors, together accounting for almost half of the total.
By regimes, 79.8% of these regularised workers (269,627 people) were classified under the General Regime, while 16,912 contributors (5%) did so as self-employed workers (RETA).
By gender, 60.2% were men (203,418) and 39.8% were women (134,499).
In the last year, from August 2025 to August 2026, Social Security has gained 679,023 contributors in average values, with a year-on-year growth of 3.13%, the highest rate in an August since 2021. Compared to 2018, the average affiliation has accumulated an increase of more than 3.5 million employed.