Málaga adds 1,062 more unemployed in October but nears 785,000 affiliates

Topics Confederación de Empresarios de Málaga Seguridad Social

Unemployment rises in the province due to the end of the tourist season, although it falls by 11,137 people compared to a year ago.

FJCG · Published on November 4, 2026 at 19:28

Panel de cotizaciones con filas de cifras en verde y rosa separadas por líneas rojas sobre fondo oscuro. — Photo: Confederación de Empresarios de Málaga

Registered unemployment in the province of Málaga closed October with 99,214 people, 1,062 more than in September. The increase is concentrated in services, with 809 more unemployed, and in the group without previous employment, with 456. Industry added 28. In the opposite direction, construction subtracted 180 unemployed and agriculture, 51. Social Security affiliation reached 785,092 workers, 445 more than the previous month. It is an unusual movement for these dates, according to the Confederación de Empresarios de Málaga (CEM), which links the rise in unemployment to the end of the peak tourist season.

The annual balance improves

The comparison with a year ago leaves 11,137 fewer unemployed in the province, the lowest level for a month of October in the last two decades, according to the CEM. In affiliation, the year-on-year difference is 35,081 more workers. The executive vice-president and general secretary of the CEM, Natalia Sánchez, explains that "October is usually a month of adjustment in our labor market," but stresses that this year affiliation rises when it usually falls. The organization points to possible regularization processes for foreign workers and the weight of permanent seasonal workers in the statistics. The employers' association warns that the challenge is to extend job creation to the entire productive fabric. Larger companies, around 1% of the total, concentrate a good part of the new positions, while micro-SMEs with fewer than ten workers, close to 85% of companies, find more difficulties in expanding their workforces. Sánchez calls for active employment policies for SMEs, along with tax and labor measures that favor their competitiveness.