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.
Spain's unemployment rate hit a record high in the third quarter, with one in four out of work and more expected to lose their jobs in 2013 as the next phase of government cutbacks kicks in.
Condemned by recession, almost a million persons have left Spain since January last year according to a report from the country’s National Statistics Institute, INE, which also points out that the trend has intensified in the first nine months of this year.
Unemployment in the Euro-zone hit a fresh high of 18.2 million in August, the EU statistics agency has said. The number out of work rose by 34.000, but after the July data was revised up, it meant the unemployment rate remained stable at a record high of 11.4%.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Spain rose by 112.269 in January, taking the overall figure to 4.7 million. Spain’s unemployment rate stands at 22.9%, the highest in the 17-nation Euro-zone.
Spain ended 2011 with record high unemployment, according to data released Tuesday as the new conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy considers additional austerity measures to reduce the budget deficit.