Spain has a thrifty 2009

Recession is causing Spaniards to save more of their money, with the household savings rate in the third quarter of 2009 up 4.6% compared to the same period last year, the government reported Monday.

The savings rate for households and non-profit institutions was 14.1%, the National Statistics Institute said.

Spain has been in technical recession since late 2008 following the collapse of a credit-fueled construction boom and the unemployment rate now stands at an EU-high of 17.9 %.

In a different report, car sales for 2009 decrease by almost 18% compared to the previous year and fell to the lowest level since 1995, an association of manufacturers and a dealership grouping said.

Sales rose in the last quarter of the year, largely due to a government program offering rebates for people who trade in older cars and buy a new one. But this was not enough to prevent overall negative numbers for the year. The associations reported that the total number of Cars sold in Spain during 2009 stood at 952’772.