Data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that the unemployment rate rose significantly in the first quarter, reaching the highest level since the first quarter of 2024, and exceeding economists' forecasts - a sign of some caution among employers in the economy.
Still, the Spanish economy is once again set to grow the fastest among the world's rich nations this year, leading the pack for a second year in a row, according to the IMF's latest projections.
According to the report, the unemployment rate rose to 11.36% compared to 10.61% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Economists had expected unemployment to increase to 10.7%. The number of unemployed rose by 193.7 thousand compared to the fourth quarter, to 2.789 million, while the number of employed fell by 92.5 thousand, reaching 21.765 million. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate rose to 58.57% from 58.48% in the fourth quarter.
INE said that the job losses were recorded across all sectors: services (+124,900), industry (+21,100), construction (+13,700), and agriculture (+4,500).