26.02% Unemployment Rate: Spain Hit Depressing Record In 2012
Spain set a depressing record in the fourth quarter of 2012 as the unemployment rate in the country rose to 26.02%.
According to the National Statistics Institute, that means that nearly 6 million people are out of work.
Spain’s unemployment rate was at 25.02 percent in the third quarter. Al Jazeera reports that another 187,000 people lost their jobs during the fourth quarter to bring the total number of unemployed adults in Spain to 5.97 million.
Spain’s overall employment picture is pretty bleak but it’s even uglier for the country’s young population. The unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 26 rose to 55.13%. The country’s 26.02% unemployment rate is the highest level since Spain became a Democracy in 1975.
Unfortunately, 2013 is not shaping up to be a year of recovery.
Soledad Pellon, market strategist at IG Markets in Madrid, said:
“It is a very, very high figure. The expectation is that this figure will carry on growing during 2013. This year will still not be a year in which we will see job creation.”
Pellon said that the unemployment rate in Spain is expected to peak at 27% over the next two years. According to Pellon, the unemployment rate could hit 26.9% by the end of 2013. Helenair agrees, saying that Spain’s austerity measures are aimed at long-term success.
