Spain jobless hits record five million

Spain now has a record five million people registered as unemployed as the country remains stuck in recession.

The Labour Ministry said today that the number of people on the unemployment list in February jumped by 59,444 compared with January, making the total 5.04 million.

Spain is battling to emerge from its second recession in just over three years with its economy still reeling from the collapse of the once-booming property sector.

The country’s unemployment rate was 26% at the end of the fourth quarter.