Spain's jobless rate soared to almost 19 per cent in the fourth quarter, official data showed yesterday, as Europe's fifth-largest economy struggles to join to its main EU partners in emerging from recession.
The rate of 18.83 per cent is one of the highest in the 27-nation European Union, and far above the average of 10 per cent for the 16 countries that share the eurozone.
A total of 4.326 million people were out of work in Spain at the end of last month, up 1.12 million from a year ago, the National Statistics Institute said.
The jobless rate is up from 17.92 per cent in the third quarter, or a further 203,200 people, and from 13.91 per cent at the end of 2008, when Spain plunged into a recession from which it has failed to recover.
The Spanish economy contracted 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, its fifth straight quarterly decline, even as the entire eurozone officially joined the US and Japan in emerging from recession during the same period.
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.
The government sought to put the best face on the latest jobless figures, noting that they correspond to its predictions which envisage a return to growth in the second half of this year.
"You can't say that the figure is a triumph, that would be absurd, even though it is a sign that the government's goals are being respected," Employment Minister Celestino Corbacho said.
The government has forecast a jobless rate of 18.9 per cent for 2010.
"The recovery in employment is slower than the economic recovery," Mr Carbacho said. He was speaking in Barcelona where he is attending a meeting of EU employment ministers, which on Thursday pledged to maintain economic stimulus measures as long as the jobless rate is on the rise.
Spain has made the fight against unemployment one of the planks of it EU presidency, which began on January 1.
Foreigners in Spain, many of whom had come to work in the construction industry, were the hardest hit by the rise in unemployment. A total of 29.7 per cent were out of work compared to a rate of 16.8 per cent for Spaniards.
A recent opinion poll said unemployment was the chief concern of Spaniards, far ahead of terrorism or immigration.
A total of 1.22 million households now have all their working-age members out of work.
The figures came as the government announced plans to gradually raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2025 amid a rapidly ageing population.
The move was to be discussed at a cabinet meeting later yesterday, which will also approve an austerity plan to rein in the country's spiralling public deficit.
The deficit for the first 11 months of the year widened to €71.5 billion - five times last year's figure - due to dipping tax revenues and the mounting costs of combating the recession.
The government expects it to swell to 9.5 per cent of GDP this year, well above a EU limit of three per cent for the eurozone, and after posting a surplus of 2.2 per cent as recently as 2007.
The economic crisis has also affected inflation, which was negative for eight months this year.
The National Statistics Institute, however, Friday reported 12-month inflation rose 1.1 per cent this month, the third monthly increase in a row.