Spain breaks another unemployment record in October; 52% for the under 25

Tuesday, November 6th 2012 - 06:25 UTC

Full article 3 comments

PM Rajoy has pledged his labour reforms will turn the market around, but did not say when

The number of job seekers in Spain soared to the highest level in at least 16 years in October, the Labour Ministry reported on Monday. As recession deepens the number of officially unemployed jumped by 128,242 people in October which means about 4.83m people were jobless at the end of last month, an increase of 2.7% on September.

The unemployment rate was 25% at the end of the third quarter. The jobless rate is 52% for those under 25 (however, the denominator excludes youth in full-time education).

The 4.83 million unemployed is a peak unmatched since existing records began in 1996 and one of the highest levels in Europe. Compared with a year earlier, the October figure was up by 472,595 people, or 10.84 percent.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said his labour reforms will turn the market around. But in the meantime job seekers are in deep trouble, and analysts say a biting austerity program aimed at saving 150 billion Euros from 2012 to 2014 is delaying any exit from the recession.

Public sector cuts, a post-summer slump and a “permanent decline” in construction were to blame for the bleak October jobs news, state secretary for social security Tomas Burgos said in a statement.

Spain is still suffering from the fallout after a 2008 property market crash, which threw millions out of work. Only Greece has a higher unemployment rate among industrialised countries.

Categories: Economy, Politics, International.

Tags: Mariano Rajoy, Spain, Spain unemployment.

Top Comments

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Ayayay
Free time.
Nov 06th, 2012 - 07:12 am 0
ChrisR
But anyone with half-a-brain could see the Spanish property bubble. And everyone knows that bubbles burst.

So why the surprise that millions of construction workers were thrown out of work?

I have to feel sorry for the ordinary citizen here, no doubt encouraged by the false indicators, but are now in a dire situation not of their making.

It does seem to me that Rajoy has a rogue minister going against Gib who is not helping with the sympathy vote.
Nov 06th, 2012 - 10:53 am 0
British_Kirchnerist
Austerity is a disastrous failure for Spain, they should learn from their cousins in Argentina
Nov 09th, 2012 - 12:04 pm 0

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