The forecasts proved accurate as the peak tourism season arrived, and the Alicante province posted a busy June with new highs in activity for a third consecutive year after April and May. While the job growth pace slowed compared with recent years and with pre-pandemic norms, it still outpaced the national average. Year over year, employment rose by roughly half the pace seen in the prior year.
Across the month, Social Security logged an average of 736,468 participants in the province, with Alicante adding 6,146 new jobs. This is a striking figure, representing a 0.84 percent increase, versus a 0.26 percent national average. Yet it remains below the 8,243 created last year and well under the more than 7,000 recorded in June during the 2016–2019 period.
Nevertheless, this marks the highest employment level in the province in the entire historical series and translates into 22,634 more jobs than a year earlier.
The improvement in labor market engagement also showed up in a new decline in registered unemployment, with 2,846 fewer people, bringing the total to 131,869. The reduction in unemployed numbers in Labora offices—the regional employment service—surpassed last year’s drop, when June closed with 2,139 unemployed. Overall, Alicante reached its lowest unemployment figure since October 2008.
sectors
When looking at activity by sector, trade led the way in hiring with 2,720 new positions, accounting for 44 percent of all jobs created in June. This aligns with seasonal consumer behavior, as retail chains and supermarkets expanded staff to cover holiday rushes and the influx of visitors to tourist areas.
Hotels added substantial staff as well, though the rate of new hires moderated after strong reinforcements in prior months. The industrial sector created more than 2,000 new jobs, representing nearly a third of total employment for the month.
Administrative and business services continued to grow, adding 768 new participants during the period; health and social services added 763 positions; entertainment and culture contributed 541 jobs; manufacturing added 449 positions; new technologies created 234 openings; and construction added 230 roles.
The sole significant decrease appeared in education, which lost 1,897 affiliates by the end of the school term, reflecting the end of classroom activities and related services such as canteens and extracurricular programs.
hiring
In terms of job quality, permanent contracts remained the majority, with 52.3 percent of June hires lasting indefinitely. This rate sits just below the higher levels seen in previous months when it exceeded 56 percent, a trend tied to the temporary nature of some contracts softened by labor reforms but not completely eliminated. The reform still permits certain flexible arrangements, even as it prioritizes other contract forms.
In total, 50,880 new contracts were signed, about 11,000 fewer than last year.
Labor reform halves the number of people with more than ten contracts a year in Alicante
Unlike prior months, June saw men filling most of the new roles, with 3,978 new jobs for men compared to 2,168 for women, according to data from the Ministry of Social Security.
In terms of social protection, May figures show 70,558 Alicante unemployed receiving some form of support from Sepe—about half of the total—of whom 28,051 received contributions; another 36,326 benefited from subsidies and 6,181 accessed Active Addition Income.
Regionally, 4,948 jobs were created across the Valencian Community, bringing total regional employment to 2,099,889. Employment rose in Alicante and Castellón, while Valencia saw a decline of around 2,200. Registered unemployment at Labora dropped by 5,341.