Spain Jobless Rate Hits New High

Spain says its unemployment rate for the second quarter of the current year has reached the record high of 24.63 percent.
According to the new figures released by the government of Friday, nearly 5.7 million Spaniards are now out of work. 

The country also says that almost 53,500 people lost their jobs between April and June alone. 

The jobless rate is up from the first quarter’s 24.4 percent, despite the usual spike in tourism.

Earlier, the three Spanish regional communities of Valencia, Murcia, and Catalonia asked for financial aid from the central government in order to keep paying their debts. 

The Spanish government continues imposing tough spending cuts, tax hikes, and other measures as it is faced with financial difficulties. 

Spain is now in a catastrophic financial situation similar to that of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, which have been forced to seek international bailouts shortly after their bond-yields exceeded the seven percent threshold. 

The eurozone’s fourth largest economy has announced spending cuts of more than 11-billion dollars as well as tax increases to reduce the country’s deficit to avoid seeking a financial bailout like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. 

Battered by the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in the second half of 2008, destroying millions of jobs.

Press TV