Spain posts lowest February unemployment rate since 2008

SPAIN’S jobless total for February was the lowest for the second month of the year since 2008.

The Ministry of Labour said on Monday that 2,760,408 people were out of work last month- a decrease of 7,452 on January.

A year ago, unemployment rose in February by 2,618, with last month’s improvement was driven by the services sector and construction.

Minister of Social Security, Elma Saiz, said: “Spain continues on its upward trajectory, which places us as the strongest economy of the large European countries in terms of employability.”

Nearly 104,000 new jobs were created- the best February figure since 2007- and a total of 20.71 million people are in work.

In the last year, unemployment has fallen by 150,607 people- down 5.2% less- with a decline in female unemployment of 88,654 people(-5.1%) and a fall in male unemployment of 61,953 (-5.3%).

By age, unemployment among young people under 25 years of age rose 3.3% in February, with 6,601 more unemployed than at the end of January.

The number of jobless people aged 25 and over fell by 14,053 unemployed (-0 .5%).

In February, 1,137,407 contracts were registered, 4.8% more than in the same month of 2023.

Of these, 523,445 were permanent contracts, up 6.1% than a year earlier.

The largest job falls were in Andalucia (-4,110) and the Valencian Community (-1,552).