Palma.The number of people out of work in the Balearics last month fell by 2'230, 2.27 percent.
But, with 96'122 people still officially registered out of work and union leaders claiming that the real figure continues to remain over 100'000, the opposition and trade unionists were not lapping up the local government's claims that the employment market has turned the corner. The Balearics was, in fact, one of only three regions in Spain to report a drop in the number of people out of work, but as this time of year, with the holiday season upon us, job creation can only be expected.
Even the Confederation of Balearic Business Associations was skeptical.
Its president Josep Oliver said that the figures are positive but stressed that the drop in unemployment is not enough.
Unfortunately, unemployment may be slowly falling but it's not dropping enough to pull around the year-on-year decline, he added.
But at a national level, the situation could not be worse. The number of Spanish job seekers rose for the eighth month in a row in March to hit a record 4.75 million.
The Labour Ministry said the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose by 38'769 with the services sector seeing the most jobs lost.
The jobless rate in Spain stood at 23.6% in February, according to EU figures released yesterday.
The situation is even worse for young Spaniards as youth unemployment is running at 50%.
Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union and it is expected to rise further this year.
The government hopes that reform to the labour market will help ease the problem. Its measures include cutting back on severance pay and restricting inflation-linked salary increases.
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