Spain job market best it’s been for four years

More and more Spaniards are finding meaningful work in the country as the economic recovery continues.

Spain’s unemployment level is at its lowest rate in four years, with expectation growing that the country’s recovering economy is leading to faster job creation than first projected…

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain’s unemployment rate now stands at 22.4 per cent, down from 23.8 per cent at the end of the previous quarter in March.

Financial experts had said that the country needed to get the rate to around 22.5 per cent by autumn if hope of a sustained recovery was to materialise. As it happens, Spain has exceeded those forecasts.

“Employment growth in the second quarter was sharper than expected, which suggests the recovery is taking a firmer grip on the economy,” said IHS Global Insight economist Raj Badiani. “The government is better placed to defend its election narrative that the recovery is more inclusive.”

Spain’s job market has not been this healthy since autumn 2011 – a time when the country had emerged from its first recession and had begun a slight, albeit brief, recovery. This was all before current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy came to office, and his tenure – which has come in for criticism in some quarters – has been characterised by tough labour reforms that have finally begun to bear fruit.

The journey has not been easy, however. Unemployment peaked in the first quarter of 2013 at 26.9 per cent – the highest ever – and although signs are increasingly healthy, the figure is still too high, particularly among the young.

Youth unemployment, which is classified as those aged under 25 who are not in work, has now dipped below 50 per cent for the first time since 2011, and the government is confident that this figure will continue to fall.

Rajoy expects Spain’s economy to grow by 3.3 per cent this year, which would be one of the best performances in the European Union. Next year, experts are predicting a further three per cent growth on GDP.

A lot depends on the outcome of the next general election, which is to be held later this year and is set to pit 60-year-old Rajoy against 36-year-old firebrand and leader of leftist party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias. Whether Spaniards vote for the steady guiding hand of Rajoy or opt for the excitement and promises of Iglesias could go a long way towards determining just how well Spain’s economy performs over the next couple of years.

For now, though, Rajoy is in charge, and he welcomed the recent employment data with open arms. “This is not the time to undo reforms,” Rajoy said. “If we avoid frivolities with reforms, and by taking everybody on board, our goal to create 20 million jobs is possible. I count on you to count on us.”