Jobless fall for fifth month running

2 July 2004

MADRID — The number of people out of work fell by 1.69 percent in June –the fifth consecutive month of decreases in the level of unemployment, the Labour Ministry said Friday.

But, compared to June 2003, the number of jobless Spaniards increased by 1.59 percent, the ministry said.

The new Spanish government has changed its way of calculating unemployment to bring it into line with the International Labour Organisation’s standard.

The last overall unemployment rate was published at the end of April and put Spain at 11.38 percent, compared with an average of 9.0 percent for the 25-member European Union.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news