Spanish jobless soar 25.4 per cent in 2009

Spanish unemployment soared by 25.4 per cent in 2009 to 3.923 million as Europe's fifth-biggest economy remained mired in the worst recession for decades, the government said yesterday.

The rise of 794,640 in the number of unemployed over the year however was less than in 2008, when the total leapt by almost one million, the labour ministry said.

Spain provides only quarterly data on the unemployment rate but according to the European Union statistics agency Eurostat it stood at 19.3 per cent in October, the second highest rate in the bloc behind Latvia.

The unemployment rate across the 16 nations that use the euro single currency stood at 9.8 per cent in October, according to Eurostat.

A recent opinion poll said unemployment was the chief concern of Spaniards, far ahead of terrorism or immigration.

Spain's economy has proved especially vulnerable to the global credit crunch because growth relied heavily on credit-fuelled domestic demand and a property boom boosted by easy access to loans that has collapsed.

Spain's gross domestic product contracted 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, its fifth straight quarterly decline, even as the entire eurozone officially joined the United States and Japan in emerging from recession during the same period.

The labour ministry said yesterday that the number of people seeking jobless benefits rose by 54,657 in December from November, or by 1.4 per cent.

It was the fifth monthly increase in a row.

Jobless claims rose on a monthly basis by 1.6 per cent in November, 2.6 per cent in October, 2.2 per cent in September and 2.4 per cent in August, after three months of declines.

The government sought to put the best face on the latest figures.