MADRID: More good news on the economic front as government data showed that the number of people seeking unemployment benefit fell sharply during the month of May.
Spain’s Employment Ministry data released on Tuesday showed that jobless benefits fell by 117,985 to 4.22 million, the best results for a May since records began. The number of registered unemployed was down by 357,354 or 7.8 percent over May 2014, the biggest yearly drop since the current statistical series began in 1996, the ministry said.
The surge in job creation was driven in part by seasonal employment needs at the start of the summer tourist boom. The most noticeable drop in unemployment came in the services sector where jobless claims fell by 68,826 across Spain but it also fell in construction, industry and agriculture sectors and each of Spain’s regions. Spain has been on the road to economic recovery since mid 2013 when it emerged from its second recession since the start of the economic crisis five years earlier.