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Unemployed people in Spain. |
Newly
released figures show Spain’s unemployment rate hit a new record high at the
end of March, reaching 24.44 percent.
With the
highest rate since 1996, the data released by Spain's National Statistics
Institute indicate that some 5.6 million people are now jobless, AFP reported.
This comes
hours after the New York-based Standard & Poor’s ratings agency downgraded
Madrid’s long-term sovereign credit rating from A to BBB+, giving it a negative
outlook.
Earlier
this month, Spain’s Labor Ministry had announced a rise in the country’s
jobless rate for March, saying an estimated 4.75 million people were
unemployed.
In the
first quarter of the year, some 37,000 jobs were lost in Spain.
The
eurozone’s fourth largest economy has announced spending cuts of more than
11-billion dollars as well as tax increases to reduce the country's deficit to
avoid seeking a financial bailout like Greece, Ireland, and Portugal.
Battered by
the global financial downturn, the Spanish economy collapsed into recession in
the second half of 2008, destroying millions of jobs.
A number of
analysts have on several occasions said that Spain's economy is expected to be
hit by a new recession in the first two quarters of 2012.
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