Unemployment rate falls in Spain

Madrid: The number of unemployed people in Spain dropped by 130,197 last year, according to data published by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy.

A total of 2,707,456 people are now unemployed in Spain, a fall of 4.59 per cent over the past 12 months, and the best figures for the start of the year since 2007, reports Xinhua news agency.

The past year saw unemployment fall in every sector of the economy, with 81,333 fewer unemployed people in the service sector, 17,731 in industry, 15,483 in construction and 13,339 in agriculture.

Altogether, 1,616,973 women are now registered as unemployed in Spain, compared to 1,090,483 men, the data shows.

Last year also saw the creation of 539,740 new jobs in Spain, meaning 20,836,010 people are registered as working by Spain's Social Security system.

Addressing a press conference, Secretary of State for Labour Joaquin Perez Rey said: "It's the lowest total of people out of work in the last 16 years, with the number of women at the lowest level since 2008 and with 15 million workers on indefinite contracts.

"This shows that when there is a commitment to govern for the majority and the government takes brave decisions, you can change a labor market that until recently was a source of suffering and which now is beginning to show stability."

Despite the positive news, there are some worrying signals for the future in the data.

The fall in unemployment in December stood at 27,375, the smallest reduction in the last 10 years (with the exception of 2020 which was affected by the pandemic), which could hint at a possible slowdown in 2024.