Spanish Unemployment numbers soar

The number of unemployed in Spain rose by 365,000 in the first quarter to reach a record 5,639,500. It means the unemployment rate has risen by 1.59 points to stand at 24.44% of the active population. The increase comes with the first quarter of Rajoy’s labour reform, and it seems companies and administrations are using the new legislation to reduce costs. 1.7 million families in Spain have all their members out of work, as 153,400 more families found themselves in that situation in the first quarter. It’s 24.7% more than a year ago. 374,000 jobs have been destroyed, half the number forecast for all of 2012. One in every two youngsters aged under 25 is without work. By region, Andalucía is where unemployment is the highest with one in three people of working age on the dole. It’s followed by Canarias with 32.28%. The regions with the lowest unemployment are the Basque Country 13.55% and Navarra, 16.34%. Unemployment among foreigners has risen to 37%, with 67,400 more joining the list in the first quarter taking the number of foreigners out of work to 1,293,100. The numbers come from the EPA, the survey of the active population, published by the Official Statistics Institute.