Spain jobless falls to lowest September total in 18 years

Registered unemployment in Spain fell in September, marking the first decline for the month since 2007 outside the pandemic years, data from the Labour Ministry showed Wednesday.

The number of jobseekers declined by 4,846 from August, bringing the total to 2.4 million, the lowest September figure in 18 years. On a seasonally adjusted basis, unemployment fell by 29,689.

The FXStreet-cited market consensus had expected a rise of 15,400 in the number of jobseekers.

Compared with a year earlier, unemployment dropped by 153,620, or 6%.

By gender, female unemployment fell by 2,827 to 1.5 million, its lowest September level since 2008. Male unemployment dropped by 2,019 to 952,761. Youth unemployment rose by 16,085 on the month to 183,716, though this remained the lowest September total on record.

Meanwhile, 1.5 million employment contracts were signed in September, of which 43% were permanent.