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Spanish economy

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Spanish economy 4th August 2014

Spanish unemployment rate falls for sixth straight month

MADRID | The Corner | The unemployment rate in Spain falls in July by 29,841 people and drops for six consecutive months. The total number of unemployed stands at 4,419,860. For the first time, unemployment is below the 4.42 million that the current executive found when it came to power. Regarding to the nature of the employment created, it is important to highlight the growth of indefinite contracts by 18.41%. The cumulative reduction of unemployment in the first 7 months of the year (281.478 people) is the largest since 1998. In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment registered in July grows in 32,357 people, a figure which corresponds to the time series trend, where since 2000 the seasonally adjusted unemployment always increases in July, with the only exception of 2004.

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Spanish economy 28th July 2014

Foreign tourists in Spain spend 7.8% more until June

MADRID | The Corner | They keep coming and, more important, they spend more money, which adds to the recovery. Foreign tourists visiting Spain spent €2.63 billion in the first semester, a 7.8% more than in the same period of 2013, according to official data. British citizens are the biggest spenders, followed by the Germans. Tourism is a crucial sector of Spanish economy, accounting for more of 10% of GDP.

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Spanish economy 24th July 2014

Spain: Barclays see growth and employment improving in Q2

MADRID | The Corner | Ahead of INE’s official release of Q2 growth, Bank of Spain (BdE) published  on Wednesday its estimate in its economic bulletin. The central bank estimates that economic activity in Q2 accelerated to 0.5% q/q from 0.4% q/q in Q1, driven by positive contributions from both domestic and external demand. BdE has also revised upwards its annual growth projections for 2014 and 2015 to 1.3% and 2%. These estimates coincide with ours, both for Q2 14 and for 2014-15, analysts at Barclays point out.

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Spanish economy 24th July 2014

Madrid saps Catalonia fiscal claims

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | Spanish Finance Ministry published on Thursday a regional breakdown of public income and expenses, aimed at rebuking unfair fiscal claims from Catalonia’s regional government. The move comes a few days before its chairman, Artur Mas, meets Prime Minister Rajoy in a last ditch attempt to defuse the current rift over self-rule. It has already being hotly contested by Mr Mas, as an open challenge to his core request for better budgetary treatment. It will hardly contribute to a favourable climate before that key meeting by closing the door to any face-saving outcome based on buying time in exchange of extra money.  

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Spanish economy 16th July 2014

Defaults on instalment purchases fall by 25.2% in Spain

MADRID | By The Corner | The number of trade assets obtained on deferred terms and returned unpaid by households and companies plummeted by 25.2% in May, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE). Thus, defaulting in commerce puts together 25 months of year-on-year drops.

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Spanish economy 4th July 2014

Rajoy’s armour-plating against strong, divided left?

MADRID | Op-ed by Jaime Santisteban | Spanish government is announcing “second generation reforms” in technology and innovation, optimizing of European Structural Funds for youth employment and public-private partnerships. Even a change in mayors’ election procedure.  On which grounds? These measures come up after European elections showed a very fragmented political scene and a serious punishment to bipartisanship.

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Spanish economy 2nd July 2014

Spanish PMI, the best among EU countries

MADRID | By The Corner | PMI manufacturing in the Eurozone was weaker than expected (51.8 versus 51.9), except for Spain, whose PMI picked up to 54.6 from previous 52.9. The negative note was the French data, which plummeted 1.4 points to 48.5 thus maintaining the country in the economic contraction zone.

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Spanish economy 27th June 2014

Spain’s tax reform, bad deal for small savers

MADRID | By Francisco López |  The need for goverment to increase income allocated to saving was among the major aims of the tax reform passed on June 20 in Spain. That’s why experts were surprised when knowing about the end of the tax exemption on the first €1,500 of dividend, which goes clearly against small savers. The government insists it is balanced out by other deductions on all brackets taxing savings.