Spain’s jobless queue lengthens in first quarter

Spain’s jobless queue lengthened slightly in the first three months of the year to 16.7 percent compared to 16.5 percent in the previous quarter, official data showed Thursday.

The National Statistics Institute said there were 3.79 million people unemployed in the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.

The services sector — which includes tourism, where jobs are often temporary — was particularly hard hit, with 91,300 people losing their jobs.

But the number of people with temporary contracts, of which Spain holds the record in Europe, fell slightly to 26.1 percent.

Still, unemployment in Spain remains sky-high.

The country has the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone after Greece, with young people especially hard-hit.

The Spanish economy was one of the worst hit by the 2008 global financial crisis.

While the economy as a whole has gradually inched back towards recovery since then, unemployment is still stubbornly high while wages stayed low.