The number of Spaniards
registered as seeking work increased by 11.3 percent from September last year.
In September, the number of
jobless people mostly rose in the service industry -- up 85,713, while dipping
slightly in the agriculture (-2,633), construction (-9,687) and industry (-966)
sectors.
According to the National
Statistics Institute, which uses a different calculation, the overall
unemployment rate had reached 24.63 percent by the end of June, a record in the
industrialised world.
The government sees the jobless
rate at 24.6 percent at the end of 2012, before dipping slightly to 23.3
percent in 2013.
According to a study published
Monday by the UGT union, close to a million people have been looking for work
for more than two years, or some 20.8 percent more than a year ago.
Spain has been struggling since
a property market crash in 2008.
The government expects the
economy to contract by 1.5 percent in 2012 and 0.5 percent in 2013 before
returning to growth in 2014 with an expansion of 1.2 percent, and in 2015 with
1.9 percent.
But these forecasts are viewed
as optimistic by the market. The International Monetary Fund estimates a
contraction of 1.2 percent in Spanish GDP for 2013, while Standard and Poor's
expects the economy to shrink by 1.4 percent. Bank Natixis has issued the most
pessimistic forecast of a 2.2 percent contraction for the year.
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