In spite of contrary predictions, Spanish unemployment slightly rose for the first time in a year, reaching 21% during the first quarter of 2016
The jobless rate increased to 21% in the first quarter of 2016, the National Statistics Institute said in Madrid Thursday. The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2015 was 20.9% and economists expected the reading to remain stable.
However, the number of unemployed people rose by 11.900 to a total of 4.8 million. Most jobs were lost in the services and construction sectors, data from the National Statistics Institute showed. Despite Thursday’s data, the Spanish economy has added 574.800 new jobs over the past 12 months as the recovery gained some momentum.