Easter hirings bring record monthly drop in unemployment to Spain
April registers biggest decline since June 2013, fueled by seasonal jobs in hospitality sector
April has been a particularly good month for the Spanish job market. The number of people who filed jobless claims went down by 129,281, the biggest drop for a single month in the entire historical series. The previous record had been set in June 2013. The total number of people without a job now stands at 3.57 million, according to the Labor Ministry.
Meanwhile, the number of employed grew by 212,216, as measured by new Social Security affiliations. This brings the total number of contributors to the national welfare system to 18.12 million.
The calendar has helped boost job figures for April: the Easter holidays always mean increased hiring, especially in tourist destinations. As a reflection of that, employment grew in all sectors but most particularly in the hospitality sector, where 96,069 new jobs were added.
The unemployment rate in Spain is around 18.7%, down from the high of 27% in 2013, when the country was in the grip of a crippling economic crisis. Despite a recovery and good growth forecasts, Spain still has the second-highest jobless rate in the EU after Greece.
Spain will spend a further €1.1 billion in 2017 on bank bailout
The Spanish government foresees adding a further €1.1 billion to the cost of rescuing the country’s banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, according to data sent to Brussels. So far, the cost has been €57.9 billion, from which €9.6 billion can be deducted in interest and dividends, leaving the total cost at €48.2 billion. The final figure will depend largely on the sale of Bankia and losses from the Sareb bank created to house the toxic assets of Spain’s banks.
English version by Susana Urra.
