The number of unemployed in Spain, which already has the highest jobless rate in the industrialised world, could reach a record of more than 5m according to the Misister of Labour, Valeriano Gómez.
National unemployment at the end of 2010 was 20.33%, substantially higher in some of the autonomous regions such as Andalucia where the figure is 30%. There are currently 4.33 million people out of work, the highest figure since records began in 1996.
According to the minister, much will depend upon whether there is a rise in the working-age population. Spain enjoyed a decade of boom in the construction industry, attracting millions of unskilled immigrant workers, but then the bubble burst and, combined with the global financial crisis, Spain began to suffer. And continues to suffer.
Unemployment has continued to rise during the first three months of 2011.