Good news in Spain as unemployment falls below 3 million and GDP grows faster than expected

SPAIN’S unemployment figures have dropped below three million for the first time since 2008, according to the National Statistics Institute(INE).

The INE said the total fell to 2.9 million for the second-quarter of 2022 compared to 3.2 million for the first three months of the year.

The welcome news- at a time of inflation hitting over 10%- is the lowest jobless total since the world banking crisis 14 years ago.

The unemployment rate stands at 12.5% with 617,000 additional permanent jobs compared to the second-quarter of 2021.

The figures validate labour reforms in Spain aimed at cutting down temporary contracts or even black market working.

Meanwhile Spain’s gross domestic product grew 1.1% in the second quarter of the year, well above market expectations of 0.4%, according to INE preliminary estimates announced on Friday.

The figure is up from 0.2% over the previous three months.

Household consumption bounced back at 3.2% as opposed to 2% in the first-quarter of 2022.

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