Economía

Foreign employment has accelerated strongly in Spain coinciding with the launch of the extraordinary regularization process for migrants carried out by the Government of Pedro Sánchez. Social Security reached a new record of 3.51 million foreign affiliates on average in July, after adding 66,046 employed in a single month and 420,875 in the last year, according to data published this Friday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) has renewed the operating license for the Almaraz Nuclear Power Plant for Units I and II, according to the order published this Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE). The decision will allow the two reactors of the Extremadura plant to remain operational at least until June 8, 2030.

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported this Thursday that inflation in July remained at the level maintained in the previous three months and rose to 3.6%, mainly due to gasoline and electricity. This figure is one tenth above the 3.5% advanced on July 30. In a 2026 marked by the war conflict in the Middle East, inflation had remained at 3.2% between April and June, so the final figure for July is four tenths higher than the previous one. It is now five consecutive months with an annual rate above 3%. In its case, electricity recorded an annual rate of 8.4% and natural gas, 4.1%.

The Consell de Garanties Estatutàries de Catalunya has endorsed the proposed Chambers law, including the scheme of the silver seats, those seats reserved for the companies that contribute the most money to the entities. These had been the focus of controversy due to their reservation, which led in July to the Comuns and the CUP requesting an opinion from the Consell regarding this chapter and two others, focused on their representation and their role in vocational training (FP). The advisory body sees the entirety as compliant with the framework of the Statute and the Spanish Constitution. The law is being processed in the Parliament, which is inactive until the end of September.

Around the world, young people are entering the labor market for the first time at a particularly challenging moment, marked both by the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of geopolitical tensions. After reaching its lowest level in two decades two years ago, the global youth unemployment rate rose by one-tenth in 2025, to 12.4%, according to the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the Future report, prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which publishes this study biennially. This amounts to about 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24 worldwide.

One of the most important highways in Morocco will be named after Donald J. Trump. It is not just any road: it crosses almost the entire Western Sahara, more than 1,000 km separating the cities of Tiznit and Dakhla. King Mohammed VI announced this week that he would rename the highway in gratitude to the President of the United States, who in 2020 recognized Moroccan sovereignty over this disputed autonomous region.

The exodus of thousands of Moroccan citizens to Ceuta at the risk of drowning in the sea has exposed the contradictions of the country’s economy. The rapid development of recent years contrasts with high levels of inequality and a generation that continues to seek better living conditions abroad.

Just on the day the July jobs report turned out to be a disaster, with a loss of 23,000 jobs, the White House unveiled the antidote to change the conversation.

Wall Street is going full throttle upwards, climbing towards records, but the real economy, that of everyday people, surprised this Friday with a loss of 23,000 jobs in the month of July. This more than evident sign that the US labor market has cooled down, despite the Dow Jones that President Donald Trump boasts so much about, complicates the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) task as it weighs whether to raise interest rates amid persistently high inflation.

The fever for developing renewable energy projects in Spain, especially photovoltaic ones, is not only cooling down but also threatens to bring about a complicated financial pneumonia for those investments that were financed with revenue forecasts higher than what the market currently allows.