In Cartagena, the Number of Unemployed Decreased by 778 in a Year. Cartagena has recorded the lowest May unemployment figure in 18 years. Over the past year, the rate has dropped by 6.17%. The city surpasses both the region and the country in reducing unemployment.
In Cartagena, 11,813 unemployed people were registered in May—this is the lowest figure for this month since 2008 and the first time since September 2025 that unemployment has fallen below 12,000. Over the year, the number of jobless people declined by 778, which corresponds to a 6.17% year-on-year decrease.
The pace of unemployment reduction in Cartagena exceeded the regional and national averages. For comparison: in Murcia, unemployment over the past year fell by 5.06%, while across Spain it declined by 5.47%. Cartagena also stands out in monthly terms: compared to April, the number of unemployed dropped by 227 people, or by 1.88%. This is noticeably higher than in the region (–1.09%) and in the country as a whole (–1.54%).
In May, 4,697 new employment contracts were signed in Cartagena, 400 more than the previous month. Of these, 2,574 were permanent and 2,123 were temporary, meaning the share of permanent contracts exceeded half. At the same time, the number of employed is also growing: according to the latest data for April, 81,115 people are registered in the city as contributing to the social security system. That is 238 more than a month earlier and 1,635 more than a year ago, reflecting a 2.03% annual increase.
Unemployment fell among both men and women. In May, the number of unemployed women decreased by 114 (–1.48%), and men by 113 (–2.57%). In addition, the city saw an increase of 50 self-employed individuals in the month, corresponding to a 0.44% growth.
For context: Cartagena is the second most populous city in the autonomous community of Murcia and an important industrial and port center of the region. In recent years, the local labor market has shown steady recovery after the pandemic, and the proportion of permanent contracts in Spain as a whole has increased following the 2022 labor reform. According to the National Institute of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the country in 2026 remains one of the lowest in the past 15 years.
