Unemployment hits record high in Spain
MADRID: The unemployment in the Spain has hit a record high. The unemployment reached to 24.4%, and numbers to a staggering 5,639,500 at the end of March. The official figures will confirm that Spain has fallen back into recession.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said, “The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government… Spain is in a crisis of huge proportions.” Bank of Spain said that the economy contracted by 0.4% in first three months of this year.”In Spain today, a cycle similar to Greece is starting to develop,” said HSBC chief economist Stephen King.”The recession is so deep that when you take one step forward on austerity, it takes you two steps back.”
The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said, “We believe that the new government has been front-loading and implementing a comprehensive set of structural reforms, which should support economic growth over the longer term,”.
“In particular, authorities have implemented a comprehensive reform of the Spanish labour market, which we believe could significantly reduce many of the existing structural rigidities and improve the flexibility in wage setting,” S & P added.
Sources: BBC
