09 May, 2014

By VIVA Team

The forecast for Spain’s economy suggests clear blue skies and plain sailing ahead

Spain’s recovery took another step away from the red this week with the announcement from the country’s Employment and Social Security Ministry that 110,000 people found jobs in April this year.

The encouraging data represented the sharpest drop in unemployment in April since 1996, and represents a year-on-year fall of 305,000. In the space of 12 months, more than a quarter of a million Spaniards have found work…Such an impressive improvement was evident in nearly all sectors of the Spanish economy, with the most jobs created in the service sector, which added 84,706 new roles in April. Following closely behind was the construction sector – which famously suffered more than most during the economic troubles of 2007 and 2008 – manufacturing, and agriculture.

Although Spain still holds the unenviable record of the most unemployed under-25s in Europe, youth unemployment levels improved markedly in April, with 15,708 people aged under 25 finding work, leaving the current total out of work at 415,977.

A large part of Spain’s recovery is being driven by foreign workers, the statistics revealed, with 1.56 million foreign nationals shown as registered in the Spanish Social Security System in April – an increase of 27,732 in the space of just one month. Labour contracts also swelled, with 1.29 million signed in April, which represented a 6.57 per cent increase on March.

These figures follow hot on the heels of the Spanish government’s pledge to create 600,000 new jobs over the next two years. Such confidence in Spain’s purring recovery was evidenced in new figures released last week by Anfac – the country’s car manufacturers’ association – which revealed that car sales in Spain rose by 28.7 per cent in April when compared to the same month last year.

New car sales across Spain have increased for eight months straight, boosted by the government’s popular subsidy scheme, which offers buyers a rebate when their trade in an old vehicle for a new vehicle.

In total, more than 80,000 new cars were sold in Spain in April, said Anfac, while first-quarter results for the year show a 16.2 per cent increase on last year – another sure sign that Spain’s economy is motoring nicely in the right direction.