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Spain's jobless drama worsens

October 26, 2012

A quarter of Spain's working population is currently unemployed as a deep recession caused the jobless rate to hit a new record in September. More government austerity could worsen the Spanish jobless drama.

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Image: AP

Spanish unemployment edged past a historic 25 percent at the end of September, as the country's deepening economic crisis added another 85,000 workers to the jobless lines.

Data from Spain's National Statistics Institute released on Friday, showed the jobless rate climbing to 25 percent between July and September, up from 24.6 percent recorded in the previous quarter.

With 5.8 million people out of jobs in Spain, only debt-ridden Greece has higher unemployment in the European Union.

At the end of last year, Spain slipped back into recession for the second time in the past three years, aggravating government attempts to scale back huge public debt caused by the need to bailout the country's ailing banking sector.

Planned austerity to the tune of 60 billion euros ($77.5 billion) by 2014, is expected to crimp growth further, and could undermine government efforts to slow the pace of decline to -0.5 percent next year.

Unemployment among Spaniards younger than 25 remained extremely high, at a rate of 52 percent.

uhe/pfd (dapd, AFP, Reuters)