The number of unemployed registered with the Public Employment Service (former INEM) in Spain rose by 1.6% in February to 4,299,263, the highest level since 1996.
Another 68,260 people joined the ranks of the unemployed in February and there are now 2,164,651 women and 2,134,612 men without gainful employment.
The Secretary of State for Employment, Mari Luz Rodríguez, once again admitted that these were ‘negative figures’, but tried to put a positive spin on the situation by once again stressing that the increase was less than in the same month of the previous year.