Spain enjoys drop in unemployment

The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain fell by 107,570 in December, the Labour Ministry said.

The drop is the best on record for the month and welcome news for an economy struggling to emerge from more than two years of recession.

The ministry said the decrease left the country’s total jobless at about 4.7 million. It said the unemployment figure dipped by 147,385 for the whole of 2013.

Quarterly unemployment surveys – seen as more accurate by economists – show that Spain’s unemployment rate was 26% in the third quarter, with six million people jobless. The rate is the second highest in the 28-country European Union after Greece.

The Spanish government insists the economy is on the mend and will create jobs in 2014.