60'000 More Spanish Unemployed in November

Speaking to Congress on Wednesday, Zapatero admitted a reported rise of 60’000 unemployed throughout Spain in the month November, adding ‘We cannot continue with a breach of unemployment which is so high’.

The Prime Minister was addressing Congress to present the Government’s plan for the new Sustainable Economy Law, which proposes to change the productive model of the Spanish economy, and also announced new measures which will come into effect in this legislature.

The announcement came after the latest unemployment figures reported the fourth consecutive month of increases with 60,593 becoming unemployed this month. There is now a total of 3,868,946 people registered with Government employment agencies.

These figures came from all sectors - especially in the services sector, followed by construction, industry and agriculture. It rose across the country as a whole with the notable exception of Extremadura which reported a fall of 1,100. The largest increase in figures - 11,802 and 8,332 were seen in Cataluña and Valencia respectively.

However the figures recorded for this month were three times less than those recorded for the same period last year. Elena Sagado, the Minister for Economy and the finance said that this left room for some hope for 2010.