Spain jobless total passes 5m
Spain's jobless total is now at 5.3 million, official figures have shown.
Also In The News
|
The move is to tempt Iran to enter talks over its nuclear programme. |  |
Friday, 27, Jan 2012 01:37
By Neal Wallace
Spain now has more than five million people out of work, according to official figures.
The country's National Statistics Institute said that 5.3 million people were unemployed in the three months to the end of December 2011, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter of 2011.
According to the BBC, Spain already has the highest jobless rate of the 17 countries in the eurozone and is expected to slide back into recession.
The latest figures mark a rise from 21.5 per cent in the third quarter of last year, to 22.8 per cent, this is is highest rate in nearly 17 years.
On Thursday (January 26th), public service employees staged a series of demonstrations across Spain to protest against unemployment and increasing austerity measures, while the country's new ruling Popular Party has pledged labour reforms to try and stem the amount of people without a job.
Unemployment in the United States is currently at 8.5 per cent, recent reports confirmed.