The island capital registered a 5.5% year-on-year decrease in unemployment in August, standing at 15,806 unemployed individuals. This figure represents a reduction of 926 people compared to August 2025 and consolidates a trend of four consecutive months below the 16,000 unemployed mark. The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, highlighted that this year-on-year decrease is higher than those observed in the Canary Islands (3.8%) and Tenerife (3.6%) as a whole.
Bermúdez explained that this data reinforces the city's role as a central hub for the economic and labor development of the insular and regional territory, describing the trend as consolidated rather than a one-off result.
“"Having already four months below 16,000 unemployed allows us to speak of a consolidated trend and not a punctual result."
Meanwhile, the CEO of the Sociedad de Desarrollo, Carmen Pérez, indicated that in the cumulative first eight months of the year, there were 9,281 fewer unemployed people compared to the same period in 2025, a reduction of 6.77%, confirming the solid annual trend.
Regarding gender evolution, female unemployment decreased by 5.8% compared to August 2025, with 553 fewer unemployed women (8,952 in total), while the decrease among men was 5.2% (373 fewer), reaching 6,854 unemployed men. Pérez emphasized that the municipality is generating employment and that efforts must continue to improve these figures.
Long-term unemployment also showed a favorable trend, decreasing by 8.89% year-on-year in August to 7,283 people, maintaining a positive trend over the last 5 years. Within this group, the segment without any benefits experienced a decrease of 12.92%.
Despite the positive figures, unemployment in Santa Cruz registered a slight increase of 20 people (0.13%) compared to July, a minor rise attributed by Pérez to the usual summer slowdown in economic activity.
In terms of hiring, 9,925 new contracts were signed in August, a 30.7% increase compared to August 2025 (2,331 more contracts), reaching the best figure for this month since 2019. This increase was significantly higher than in the Canary Islands (4.1%) and Tenerife (4.3%). Temporary contracts grew by 40.5% and permanent ones by 11.2%.
The island capital accounted for 35.8% of the island's new hires, acting as an insular economic engine. The prominence of temporary hiring (71.52% of new contracts) is explained by the weight of artistic activities (film shoots, events), adjustments in temporary hires due to production circumstances, and summer replacements.
Women led contract signings in August, accounting for 51.3% of the total (5,092 contracts), compared to the 4,833 signed by men. Young people under 25 signed 2,828 contracts, a 50.3% increase compared to August 2025.
The top six occupations accounted for 61.34% of contracts. These include culture and entertainment professionals (1,681), cleaning staff (1,254), the restaurant sector (920), social, cultural, and sports support staff (891), retail trade (787), and ICT technicians (555).
Although hiring decreased by 7.0% compared to July, the drop was less than in the Canary Islands (-14.8%) and Tenerife (-12.1%), which, according to Pérez, highlights the need to promote economy-generating projects and collaboration between administrations and companies.
The labor market outlook report predicts that in September, the number of unemployed people in Santa Cruz will decrease to 15,680, while hiring will reach 10,900 new contracts.
The Sociedad de Desarrollo offers free resources to improve employability, such as the Employment Agency and training programs like Santa Cruz Form@. More information is available at [www.empleasantacruz.com](http://www.empleasantacruz.com/).
