Jobless rate falls

3 March 2004

MADRID – Spain’s unemployment rate in February was 9.2 percent, the Labour Ministry reported Tuesday.

This rate was one-tenth of a percent below the February 2003 figure.

The number of jobless people in February fell by 10,074 to slightly more than 1.75 million.

The jobless rate fell in construction (3.2 percent), industry (1.4 percent) and services (0.27 percent).

Unemployment, meanwhile, grew 0.60 percent among first-time job seekers and 2.9 percent in the agricultural sector.

In addition, 1.38 million job contracts were signed in February, a 15.48 percent increase over the same month last year. Of those, 134,326 had no expiration date – 11.8 percent above February 2003 figures.

The number of contracts with no expiration date was the highest of any February in the history of the Spanish Social Security System, officials said.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

                                              Subject: Spanish news