April sees sharpest fall in unemployment ever recorded in Spain

Sectors such as hotels, restaurants and real estate saw huge increases in job numbers in April in Spain.

The Spanish Labour Ministry said on Thursday that the number of unemployed people in Spain fell by 3.9% in April – the sharpest fall in the country’s jobless figures ever recorded…

The official data from the government reveals that some 129,281 people found work in Spain last month, eating into the official number of jobless to leave just 3.57 million people out of work in Spain.

While that figure is still rather high for a country of Spain’s size, the trend towards job creation is not only hugely encouraging but has been sustained for more than 15 months now – a sure sign that Spain’s economy is thriving.

Leading the charge in April was the tourism sector, particularly hotels and restaurants, which went on a hiring binge in the run up to the ever-busy Easter holiday period. Of the nearly 130,000 new jobs added, some 96,672 were created in the services sector.

Other industries that performed well in April include construction, the real estate sector, and agriculture as Spain gears up for its summer season by bolstering these segments of its economy.

A survey released by the Institute for National Statistics (INE) this week showed just how much the Spanish service sector is expanding. The sector has added jobs at its fastest rate for more than two years, helping to drive April’s employment figures to that record high.

The Labour Ministry also confirmed that the number of people registered as paying social security in Spain rose 1.18% in April – a growth of 212,216 extra individuals.