Spanish jobless rate drops to a still painful 20%

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Summer’s here and so are seasonal contracts. The latest official figures show the jobless rate in Spain went down to 20% in Q2, its lowest level in six years and down from 21% in the January to March period.  Another positive news for the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy, who hopes to stay in office following Spain’s inconclusive election last month, and is celebrating having avoided a landmark penalty from the European Union authorities for persistently missing their deficit target.

The number of people out of work fell by 216,700 in April through June to a rounded total of 4.6 million –below the 5 million psychological barrier. And yet unemployment is still a heavy burden for Spaniards, Greece being the only EU country with a higher rate.

According to the OECD Employment Outlook 2016, 63.4% of part-time workers in the country are “involuntarily”.

*Image: Flickr/ rafa_luque

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.