Unemployment in the Marina Alta fell to its lowest March figure for 17 years

According to the latest data from Observatori Marina Alta de CREAMA (the Marina Alta Socioeconomic Agency), March was a good month for the labour market in the Marina Alta with the number of people looking for work dropping to 8,205, the lowest March figure since 2008 – despite the fact that Easter, a period when the region shifts towards the tourism high season, was much later this year.

The unemployment rate for the region stands at 11.67%, lower than the same month last year, and below the current rates for the province of Alicante (14.21%) and the Comunidad Valenciana as a whole (12.43%). In Xàbia, the unemployment rate is currently 9.88% with just over 1,000 people registered as looking for work in the municipality. The latest figure for Spain as a whole is 10.61%.

Social Security affiliation in the Marina Alta, those who are registered as being in contracted work, rose by 1,135 people during March, bringing the total to 62,704, the highest number since September 2024 and the highest number for the month of March since records began. This represents a growth of 1.86% on the previous month, continuing the positive trend in employment in the region, although it is not as pronounced for the month of March in the previous four years but the Agency suggests that this is due to the fact that Easter was much later this year.

By gender, female unemployment decreased by 86 women (-1.80%) compared to February, reaching a total of 4,690 women registered as unemployed, while male unemployment decreased by 70 men (-1.95%), reaching a total of 3,515 unemployed. As for unemployment among those under 25, it increased by eight people in the third month of the year compared to the previous month (+1.91%). Thus, the total number of young people unemployed in March is 427.