SPAIN: Unemployment rates have spiked in Spain as numbers went up to 12.6% in the third quarter from 12.48% in the previous quarter. Overall employment also surged, according to data from the National Statistics Institute revealed on Thursday.
There has been a gradual increase in the number of people declaring themselves available or looking for work.
Employment continued to grow in the third quarter, increasing by 2.57% compared with the same time period last year to 20.54 million jobs.
The summer quarter is the ultimate peak season for tourism in Spain as the country records millions of foreign tourists travelling to the exotic destination.
Consequently, the service sector, including hotel hospitality, local tourism and other employment, saw the biggest growth, with employment at its peak in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia.
The gross domestic product (GDP) data for the summer is scheduled for release on Friday, but forecasts have predicted a potential decline caused by soaring inflation, which remained above 10% in the summer months.
Data further revealed that the economy expanded 1.5% in the second quarter as compared with the previous quarter.
Spain and Greece are the two countries that occupy the first spots on the unemployment rate list in the European Union.
Greece was the only European country with the highest unemployment rate in January 2022, with nearly 13.3% of the labour force out of work.
Meanwhile, in terms of youth unemployment, figures in the European Union reached 17% in 2021, although there exists a huge disparity across countries.
While Greece and Spain were at the top of the list, with youth unemployment rates of 31.4% and 29.4%, respectively, Germany was at the bottom, with only 5.7% of its youth employed in minimum-wage jobs.
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