Unemployment in spain climbs to 4.4 million at end of 2011

The “bad and negative” unemployment figures place the future of the welfare state in question, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said. More than 4.42 million Spaniards were out of work at the end of 2011, an increase of 7.86% over December 2010 and the highest total since 1996.

The statistics confirm “the deterioration of the economic situation in the second half of the year,” the secretary of state for Employment, Engracia Hidalgo, said.

Spain’s unemployment rate, nearly 23%, is the highest in the developed world and more than 45% of Spanish youth are without jobs.

The 2011 unemployment report comes less than two weeks since Rajoy took office pledging to make job creation a priority. With this target in mind PM Rajoy called on Spanish unions and employers’ associations to agree by the end of this week on a new overhaul of labour law.

Source: MercoPress.com