Spain's registered unemployment logged the biggest decline for the month of May signaling that the economy is finally set to recover from a deep-recession, data from the labor ministry revealed Tuesday.
The number of unemployed plunged by 98,265 in May or 1.97 percent from the previous month. This was the second consecutive decrease in unemployment, which left the registered unemployed at 4.89 million in May.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, registered unemployment dropped slightly by 265 from a month ago, it showed.
Registered unemployment among young people under 25 over the last 12 months decreased by around 32,000. In May, companies raised their hiring ahead of the busy summer holiday season, by 36,160 over the same month of last year.
Unemployment declined in all sectors as May is a traditionally good month for jobs. Among various sectors, services logged the largest decrease of 61,336. Unemployment among men fell 61,150 and that among women was down by 37,115.
Stringent austerity and sharp economic downturn were the major factors that forced companies to shed jobs across Europe. Spain has one of the highest unemployment rate in euro area.
Statistics from the INE showed that Spain's jobless rate touched a record 27.16 percent in the first quarter, up from 26.02 percent in the fourth quarter. The number of unemployed increased by 237,400 to 6.2 million.
The economy has been in recession for almost four years now. The Spanish economy contracted at a slower pace of 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter than 0.8 percent in the fourth quarter. The negative growth was driven mainly by weakness of domestic demand.
In a joint statement released on Monday, the European Commission and the European Central Bank said Spanish bank restructuring is well underway as directed by them while providing aid package last year.
Concluding the third monitoring mission of the financial sector, the International Monetary Fund, acting as an independent monitor, called for action from Eurozone authorities and Spain to address risks to the economy and to the financial sector.
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