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Spain's job dilemma

November 5, 2012

Joblessness in Spain has risen as the recession in the country continues to bite. Spain already has the highest unemployment rate of all industrialized nations, and large-scale relief is not in sight.

https://p.dw.com/p/16ctt
People enter a government-run employment office in Madrid
Image: Reuters

Spain's Labor Ministry reported on Monday that the number of job seekers in the country had risen for a third consecutive month in October. According to the data released, 4.8 million Spaniards are now out of work.

The figure marked a 2.7-percent increase month-on-month, while a year-on-year comparison revealed a drastic 10.8-percent hike in unemployment levels.

The National Statistics Institute (INE) said joblessness among people under 25 year of age reached 52 percent as the fourth-largest economy among the 17 countries using the euro was in its second recession in three years.

Not enough growth

Unemployment in October grew particularly fast in the services sector, the Labor Ministry reported. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the tourism and related sectors after the end of the holiday season. There was also a marked drop in jobs available in agricultural firms.

Madrid said it expected joblessness throughout the year hovering around 24.6 percent to ease to 23.3 percent in 2013.

Despite a protracted recession, the Spanish government looked set to push through agreed savings measures as it needed to reduce fresh borrowing to 2.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2014, down from 9.4 percent in 2011.

hg/kms (dpa, AP, Reuters)