MADRID – The number of people out of work rose by 37,100 in the first quarter of the year, according to figures released Tuesday.

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) said there were now 2,164,100 people out of work – or 11.3 percent of the working population.

This meant the percentage of those out of work rose by 0.2 percent compared with the previous three months.

Analysts said that 9,400 jobs had been lost in the first three months.

At the same time, the working population had risen by 27,600 people, bringing the total number of people in work to 19,016,700.

Just over 55 percent of the population in Spain was working.

Over the past 12 months the number of unemployed has fallen by 18,500.

During this time, 420,000 new jobs had been created, said analysts at INE.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

                                   Subject: Spanish news