Registers 170,333 contracts, a 7% increase
The number of registered unemployed at the public employment services offices (formerly Inem) in the Community of Madrid increased by 0.71% in March with 2,075 more unemployed compared to February, reaching a total of 293,817 people unemployed. With this increase, there have been three consecutive months of rising unemployment in the region.
This total number of unemployed is the lowest figure in a March since 2008. Since the beginning of the comparable historical series in 1996, unemployment has risen in March most of the time in Madrid (13 times) while it has decreased 12 times.
According to data published this Wednesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, in the last year, compared to March 2024, there have been 12,860 fewer unemployed in the Madrid region, representing an annual decrease of 4.19%.
Nationally, registered unemployment at public employment services offices decreased by 13,311 people in March compared to the previous month (-0.5%), mainly due to the services sector, which accounted for a significant portion of the decrease in unemployment.
After the decline in March, the total number of unemployed stood at 2,580,138 people, its lowest figure in a March since 2008, highlighted the Ministry.
The decrease in unemployment registered last month is lower than the declines in March 2024 (-33,405 unemployed) and 2023 (-48,755), but exceeds the decrease in 2022, when unemployment fell by 2,921 people.
In seasonally adjusted terms, registered unemployment rose by 983 people in March compared to the previous month.
In the last year, unemployment has decreased by 146,865 people, representing almost a 5.4% decrease, with a decrease in female unemployment of 78,779 women (-4.8%) and a decrease in male unemployment of 68,086 men (-6.2%).
UNEMPLOYMENT ONLY RISES IN MADRID AND LA RIOJA
Registered unemployment decreased in March in 15 autonomous communities, especially in the Valencian Community (-4,905 people), Catalonia (-2,556 people), and Galicia (-1,822 people).
On the other hand, unemployment increased in two regions: Madrid, which added 2,075 unemployed, and La Rioja, with 15 more unemployed than in February.
Regarding provinces, registered unemployment decreased in 41, led by Valencia (-3,315 unemployed), Barcelona (-1,586), and Alicante (-1,426), while it increased in the rest, with increases in Madrid (+2,075), Jaén (+495), and Córdoba (+183).
On the other hand, registered unemployment among foreigners decreased by 362 unemployed compared to the previous month (-0.1%), with the total number of unemployed immigrants standing at 362,386 unemployed, 4,055 fewer than a year ago (-1.1%).
DATA FROM MADRID
Out of the total number of unemployed in the Community of Madrid in the third month of the year, totaling 293,817 unemployed, 119,716 are men, an increase of 930 unemployed compared to the previous month, and 174,101 are women, 1,145 more.
In March, unemployment among young people under 25 years old increased, with 781 more unemployed than at the end of the previous month, reaching 20,835 unemployed, of which 11,164 are men and 9,671 are women, while unemployment among people aged 25 and over reached 272,982 unemployed.
By sectors, the sector with the highest number of unemployed in the Madrid region is Services, with 235,520, 1,726 more unemployed than in January; followed by Construction, with 20,630, which has 31 more unemployed.
On the other hand, Industry has 15,475 people unemployed, 29 fewer unemployed, and Agriculture has 2,060 unemployed in this sector, which translates to 43 fewer unemployed. On the other hand, 20,132 come from the group without previous employment, that is, 390 more people than in February.
Regarding unemployment among foreigners in the Community of Madrid, it stood at 53,492 people in March, which translates to 729 more unemployed compared to the previous month, an increase of 1.38%. On an annual basis, there were 2,084 fewer unemployed foreigners (-3.75%). Out of the total, 18,119 come from EU countries and 35,373 from non-EU countries.
Within the unemployment registered by foreigners in the region, the largest number of unemployed are concentrated in the Services sector (37,720), followed by Construction (7,077), Industry (2,224), and Agriculture (603).
Nationally, registered unemployment decreased, especially in services, with 14,461 fewer unemployed (-0.7%), followed by industry (-1,498 unemployed, -0.7%); construction, which saw a decrease of 909 unemployed (-0.5%), and agriculture, where 93 people decreased (-0.1%).
On the other hand, unemployment increased among the group without previous employment, with 3,650 more unemployed (+1.5%).
Unemployment decreased in March for both sexes, although the decrease was greater for women. Specifically, female unemployment decreased by 9,176 women compared to February (-0.6%), while male unemployment decreased by 4,135 unemployed men (-0.4%).
Thus, at the end of the third month of 2025, the total number of women unemployed stood at 1,553,778 unemployed, its lowest level in this month since 2008, while the total number of men totaled 1,026,360 unemployed.
By age, unemployment among people aged 25 and over decreased by 15,949 unemployed in March (-0.66%), while that of young people under 25 increased by 2,638 people (+1.3%). However, the total number of unemployed under 25 reached historical lows for a March, with 197,524 unemployed.
INCREASE IN CONTRACTING
Regarding contracts, the Community of Madrid registered 170,333 contracts in March, which is 11,278 more than the previous month, representing a decrease of 7.09%. On an annual basis, they increased by 7.36%, with 11,676 fewer contracts than in the same month of 2024.
Out of the total contracts, 85,613 were permanent in Madrid, 6,711 more than in January, while temporary contracts totaled 84,720, an increase of 4,000. Thus, permanent contracts in March accounted for 49.47% of the total, while temporary contracts accounted for 50.53% of all contracts registered in the region.
By sectors, the highest number of contracts was concentrated in Services in March, totaling 150,628, followed by Construction with 10,071, Industry (9,326), and Agriculture (308).
Contracts for foreigners totaled 47,401 contracts in March, an increase of 5.71% (2,560 more contracts than in February). On an annual basis, they increased by 7.91%, with 3,474 more contracts.
Throughout Spain, 1,166,601 contracts were registered, a 3.8% increase compared to the same month in 2024. In total, 43.60% of all contracts made in March were permanent, slightly lower than the same month in 2024, when the proportion of permanent contracts was 44.9%.
Within the permanent contracts, in March, 236,881 full-time contracts were made, a 6.4% increase over the same month of the previous year; 121,598 part-time contracts (+2.8%), and 144,183 fixed-term contracts (-8.9%).
BENEFITS
The Ministry has reported that a total of 170,590 people in the Community of Madrid received some form of unemployment benefit among the different modalities at the end of February (latest available data).
Specifically, 110,307 people received contributory benefits; 56,752 received subsidies, and 3,531 received active insertion income. The average amount of contributory benefits per beneficiary was 1,038.8 euros. The expenditure on unemployment benefits reached 248.431 million euros in the region.
Nationally, the expenditure on unemployment benefits reached 2,185.2 million euros in February 2025 (latest available data), a 7.8% increase compared to the same month in 2024.
