MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Spain’s jobless soars to 26%; 1.8 million households with no member employed
The economy contracted 1.3% in 2012 according to estimates from the Central bank Spain’s unemployment rate shot up to a record 26% in the fourth quarter of 2012, leaving almost six million people out of work, the National Statistics Institute said on Friday. The rate rose from 25% in the third quarter as the country’s recession deepened.
Over the year, 691,700 more people lost their jobs, the institute said, adding that there were now 1.8 million households in which no one was employed.
Spain is in the throes of its second recession in just over three years following the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector in 2008.
Battling to reduce a swollen deficit and avoid a bailout, the year-old conservative government has made major financial and labour reforms and applied severe austerity measures such as cutbacks in wages and spending as well as tax increases.
The austerity measures are aimed at lowering the deficit, but are hurting the economy in the short-term, while the reforms will only help growth in the longer-term. That means the economy will suffer more before it recovers.
The central bank this week estimated that the recession deepened in the fourth quarter of last year, the economy shrinking by 0.6% compared with the previous three-month period.
It was the sixth consecutive quarterly contraction. The economy contracted by 0.4% in the third quarter. The bank estimated economic activity was down 1.7% in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period and down 1.3% for the whole of 2012.
The statistics institute will announce official economic growth figures on January 30, while Europe’s main statistics office Euro-stat unveils its estimate on February 14.
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Read all comments6 million out of work, perhaps we should make it 7 million if they continue with giving Gibraltar hassle. Holiday in Greece !
Jan 26th, 2013 - 12:25 pm 0I feel sorry for the Spanish people. Once they had it all then they lost it, then that Nazi after a civil war, then a taste of freedom and democracy and now this awful scourge of unemployment. Amongst youngsters unemployment is apparently a staggering 60%!
Jan 26th, 2013 - 01:05 pm 0When I was in London for a week recently it was evident that huge numbers of young Spanish people have migrated to Britain in search of work and to improve their English.
Gibraltar has had referendums and its quite clear that they wish to remain aligned with Britain. The Spanish have colonies off Morroco so they can't complain.
@2 Yes, a lot have come to the UK, especially if they know someone with a business here. Also Germany where they take intensive language courses in order to be able to work.
Jan 26th, 2013 - 01:21 pm 0I admire their desire to work.
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