Aragón ended the third quarter of 2026 with 638,900 employed people, 8,400 more than a year earlier, and reached a record high of 703,900 people in the labor force. The increase in people seeking or holding jobs also pushed unemployment up to 65,000 people, although the unemployment rate remained below the national average.
Aragón reaches a record labor force with a 9.2% unemployment rate
Employment in Aragón rose 1.3% year over year, while the labor force increased by 14,500 people, or 2.1%, following three consecutive quarters of strong growth. The increase brought regional labor force participation to its highest level on record.
Unemployment rose by 6,100 people compared with the same quarter a year earlier, reaching 65,000. The unemployment rate stood at 9.2%, one percentage point below the 10.2% recorded nationwide in Spain.
The director general for Economic Policy, Ricardo Laborda, said the figures reflect a two-sided trend: the number of unemployed people is rising, but so are employment and the labor force. The Aragón regional government links the challenge to the ability of investments and business projects to absorb the increase in available labor.
Teruel and Huesca rank among Spain’s provinces with the lowest unemployment
Teruel recorded an unemployment rate of 5.6%, the fifth-lowest among Spain’s provinces. Huesca posted 6.3%, the eighth-lowest rate in the country, while Zaragoza recorded unemployment of 10.4%.
By sector, construction posted the largest year-over-year increase in employment, rising 17.6%. Agriculture grew 4.4%, while employment in services remained virtually unchanged, edging up 0.1%.
Industry was the only sector to reduce employment compared with a year earlier, posting a decline of 0.8%. The Government of Aragón highlighted the momentum in construction and stressed the need to strengthen industrial competitiveness and employment linked to new productive investment.
Employment falls during the quarter as the number of job seekers rises
Compared with the second quarter of 2026, the labor force increased by 3,400 people, or 0.5%, but employment fell by 4,400 people, or 0.7%. As a result, the number of unemployed people increased by 7,700 people during the quarter.
Of the total 65,000 unemployed people, 29,000 were seeking their first job or had been out of their previous job for more than a year. This figure accounts for approximately 45% of regional unemployment.
The evolution of Aragón’s labor market is thus defined by the growth of the labor force and the need to translate that increase into employment. The stated goal is to accelerate the creation of stable jobs through economic growth, investment, business projects and stronger competitiveness across the region.
