Spain's jobless total hits 18.8%

Spain’s unemployment rate hit 18.8% at the end of 2009.

More than a million jobs were lost last year as recession ravaged an economy that had once been one of Europe’s best performers, statistics showed today.

The ranks of Spain’s jobless totalled a record 4,326,500, the National Statistics Institute said.

The jobless rate is nearly five points higher than a year earlier, providing grim evidence of a recession triggered in large part by the collapse of a property bubble.

Yesterday it was revealed that German unemployment jumped to 3,617,000 people this month, as Europe’s biggest economy continued to fight its way out of its worst economic crisis in decades.

The Federal Labour Office said the rate was 8.6% compared with December’s 7.8%.