Unemployment rises in Spain, home sales fall

A total of 84,985 people were added to jobless rolls in August, following three consecutive months of declining unemployment, putting the total number of people without work in Spain at 3.6 million.


The number of people without jobs has risen by 1.09 million, or 43.44 per cent, in the past 12 months, the Labour and Immigration Ministry said on Wednesday.

Unemployment rose in all sectors, especially in services, with 47,805 more job losses, followed by construction, with 20,400, and manufacturing, with 11,471.

Another 6,462 foreigners lost their jobs, bringing the number of unemployed non-citizens to 488,570.

The employment figures for the province of Malaga showed an increase of 3,132 or 2.8 per cent, also after three consecutive months of decline.

The Spanish government blamed the rise in unemployment on the fact that seasonal contracts expired at the end of a summer when tourism "has not reached the levels of previous years" and there was less hiring to begin with.

The Property Registry Association said, meanwhile, that home sales totaled 100,850 in the second quarter, off 33.9 per cent from the same period in 2008.

Sales were down 8.45 per cent, compared to the first quarter, the association said.

During the April-June 2009 period, 55,300 new home sales, down 12.57 per cent below the level in the previous quarter, and 45,550 existing home sales, off 2.88 per cent from the first quarter, were registered.

At the end of the second quarter, the average mortgage amount per dwelling was 131,105 euros or 4.34 per cent less than in the previous quarter.

The real estate industry started contracting sharply in 2008 after serving as the engine of Spain's economy for several years.
 
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