Employment fell in the province of Malaga in the third quarter of the year, in the middle of summer and during the peak season. Of ... the record 835,500 people in work in the second quarter, the number fell to 825,600, according to EPA (labour survey).
Malaga was not the only province in Spain to see a fall in employment between July and September: this was also the case in major Spanish provinces, led by Madrid (49,200 fewer people in work), Seville (-19,900), Valencia (-18,500), Huelva (-15,000) and Girona (-11,800).
Following Malaga, Almeria, Ciudad Real, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Guipúzkoa, Badajoz, Salamanca, Asturias and Albacete also saw job losses. However, for the province, it is certainly unusual for the EPA to show a fall in employment in the third quarter.
Historical data does not show any falls in employment in Malaga during this period of the year. Since 2002 (the earliest date for which figures are available on the INE website), there has only been one instance of a fall in employment in the province during a third quarter: in 2002, when the decline in employment was also around 10,000 people.
Related story
This year's figures contrast with those for 2025, when, between July and September, employment rose by 25,100 people; while in 2024, 3,700 people joined the workforce; in 2023, 10,000 new jobs were created; and 27,000 in 2022. Of the most recent years, the worst was 2019, when just 700 new jobs were created in the third quarter.
By sector
By sector, the only one that did not see a fall in employment in the province of Malaga was construction, which remained stable at 70,200 workers. However, the services sector saw a fall of around 4,600 workers, down to 697,700. Agriculture, meanwhile, lost 4,300 jobs, down to 15,200. Manufacturing lost 1,000 jobs, down to 42,500.
The figures for Malaga stand in contrast to those for Spain as a whole, where employment rose by 73,600 in the third quarter, reaching 22.85 million. They also contrast with those of other coastal provinces heavily reliant on tourism, such as Alicante, the Balearic Islands and Las Palmas, where employment rose by around 25,000.
In any case, Malaga is still seeing an increase in employment compared with a year ago. Specifically, 8,700 jobs. However, this figure falls far short of the growth in other provinces, such as Madrid, Murcia and Alicante, not only in absolute terms, but also in relative terms.
The rise in employment in Malaga over the last 12 months is 1%, which pales in comparison to the 10% in Guadalajara, the 8.7% in Albacete and the 6-7% in Las Palmas, Murcia, Palencia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Cadiz.
Decline in the labour force
The fall in employment in the third quarter of the year in the province coincided with a decline in the labour force, that is the total number of people who are in work or available for work. Between the second and third quarters, this figure also fell by 10,900 to 955,800. Malaga is therefore the third province in Spain in terms of the decline in the labour force in absolute terms, behind Madrid and Girona.
That said, over the last 12 months, Malaga has still gained 24,500 people in the labour force, placing it sixth in the ranking.
The trend in the number of unemployed does, however, offer some better news. Despite the fall in employment, the number of unemployed fell by 1,000 in the third quarter of the year, to 130,200. However, compared with the same period last year, the EPA now records 15,900 more unemployed people.
Cadiz is the Spanish province where unemployment fell the most between July and September (11,600 fewer unemployed, down to 93,800 people), followed by the Balearic Islands (10,000 fewer unemployed, down to 34,400). Across Spain as a whole, however, the number of unemployed has risen by 95,900, to just under 2.6 million. Compared with 12 months ago, there are 22,000 fewer unemployed.
As for the unemployment rate, the figure for Malaga rose by 0.05% in the last quarter, from 13.62% to 13.57%. One year ago, the unemployment rate in Malaga stood at 12.28%. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Spain reached 10.18%, compared with 9.87% in the previous quarter, although it remains below the figure for the third quarter of 2025 (10.45%).
Data analysis
Turning to the figures, María José Prados, secretary for employment at the Comisiones Obreras trade union in Malaga, said that the third-quarter data shows "a slowdown in employment", precisely "during the months when tourist activity is at its peak" in Malaga, which breaks with a long-standing trend of employment growth between January and September.
Prados explained that one of the factors limiting the rise in employment in the last quarter and contributing to the decline in the labour force "may have been the lack of access to affordable housing for working people". "This is something we have been warning about for some time and which may have an impact on the province's economic growth."
Sandra Rueda, the UGT union's secretary for youth, training and employment in Malaga, added: "The EPA figures reveal a reality that we cannot simply accept as normal. They also show that we are still grappling with an inequality that we cannot ignore: the unemployment rate for women stands at 15.49%, compared with 11.92% for men. Here at UGT, we say it loud and clear: we cannot settle for a labour model that generates wealth but fails to guarantee stability or security for those who make it possible. We need to diversify our economy, strengthen productive sectors and hold to account those who have the power to drive this change."