Unions Warn of Employment Stagnation in the Community of Madrid
CC.OO. and UGT criticize the third consecutive month of unemployment increase and job insecurity, despite rising affiliation.
By Carlos Ruiz de la Fuente
••3 min read
IA
Generic image of coins and a graph, representing economic data.
Unions CC.OO. and UGT have expressed concern over recent employment data in the Community of Madrid, which show a third consecutive month of rising unemployment and high job insecurity, despite an increase in Social Security affiliation.
The latest reports from the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy indicate that registered unemployment in March 2026 rose by 0.12%, adding 342 more people to the unemployed, reaching a total of 282,625 jobless individuals in the region. This monthly increase contrasts with the year-on-year trend, which shows 11,192 fewer unemployed people than a year ago, a 3.81% reduction. Concurrently, Social Security affiliation grew by 0.56% in March, with an additional 21,719 contributors, according to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.
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"The unemployment data for March marks the third consecutive month of increasing unemployment in the Community of Madrid. This means that not even the boost from Easter Week helped unemployment decrease in the Community of Madrid. There was an increase of 0.12% while in the State the decrease was 0.94%."
Miguel Ángel Ruíz, Secretary of Employment and New Realities for CC.OO. Madrid, pointed out that the employment behavior in the region highlights the volatility and structural weaknesses of the Madrid labor market. He criticized that the economic strength of the Community of Madrid does not translate into a labor market with more and higher quality employment, noting that the region shows one of the worst unemployment evolutions compared to the previous month and the year 2025.
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"The region is positioned as one of the territories with the worst unemployment evolution compared to the previous month and to 2025, which demonstrates that regional policies are not succeeding in correcting the structural weaknesses of our labor market, which primarily affect the most vulnerable social groups in the labor market, namely young people and older individuals."
For her part, Isabel Vilabella, Secretary of Training, Employment and Democratic Memory for UGT Madrid, emphasized that the Madrid economy is unable to absorb all job seekers, with 282,625 people unemployed. She highlighted that the reduction in unemployment in Spain is double that in the Community of Madrid and focused on job insecurity, especially in the services sector, where nine out of ten contracts are signed and four out of ten are part-time.
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"Employment in the Community of Madrid is precarious, especially in the services sector."
Both unions have urged the regional government to implement specific measures to improve the labor market, promoting the Madrid Employment Strategy and developing policies aimed at vulnerable groups such as young people, those over 45, and women, where significant gender gaps and precarious part-time employment persist.
