According to the forecasts, after a slight decrease in unemployment in December, the number of unemployed registered in the Southern Basque Country in January has increased by 2,302 people, according to data provided by the Spanish Ministry of Labor. The ELA union says that this increase has been "at the expense of women and young people", since of the 2,302 new unemployed, 2,173 are women.

As far as young people are concerned, there have been 720 more people without employment in the last month, an increase of 6.1% in relative numbers. The ELA denounces that youth unemployment remains a "structural problem" and that data from the beginning of 2025 show "the harsh reality of precariousness".

On the other hand, the union points out that 51% of the people registered in unemployment did not receive any unemployment benefit in December and that only 31% received the unemployment benefit under contribution. Although this is the largest increase in the number of unemployed since August, the figure is relatively low compared to January data from previous years. For example, in January last year there were 4,125 more unemployed.