Job growth hopes after Ministry's June report

In annual terms, unemployment increased 3.5 percent or by 139'433. In June 2010, the annual rate of growth in the number of unemployed was 11.71 percent.

Compared to May, the number of male unemployed dropped 2.01 percent in June, while female unemployment fell by a record 1.24 percent. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the euro area.

However, the country's booming tourism sector is reviving hopes of a strong employment growth in the coming months.
The Bank of Spain said last week that Spain received 7.3 percent more visitors in the first five months of the year than during the same period in 2010.

In the Balearics
Meanwhile, the number of people registered as unemployed in the Balearics dropped by 4'278 in the month of June, 5.6 percent down but still leaving 71'494 jobless. It was the seventh consecutive month that unemployment figures have declined right across the region.

Unemployment apparently dropped the most in the Services sector which includes tourism (by 4'148 people), in Industry (184), amongst those who have never had a job before (150) and Agriculture (31). A further 235 people in the Construction sector were claiming unemployment benefit, the Ministry said.

Compared to June 2010, there were 2'423 less people unemployed in the Balearics than last month, a drop of 3.28 percent.
Across the country as a whole, said the Labour Ministry yesterday, unemployment fell in June by 1.62 percent meaning that 67'858 people found work during the month.

Of the total number of unemployed in the Islands last month, 38'626 were men. The total also included 8'156 people who are under 25, and of these 4'594 were men. The number of job contracts rose last month to 38'880, 3'587 less than in May. Of this number 3'187 were for an undefined period of time, 1'757 less than the previous month.

The Balearic government was upbeat yesterday about the figures which had been released by the Labour Ministry indicating a 0.14 percent year on year increase in employment in the Islands - the likes of which had not been seen since 2008.The Balearic and Canary Islands are the only two regions of the country where the number of people signing up to Social Security, i.e. who have secured new work, has been on the increase.

Balearic Economy and Statistics Director, Maria Teresa Palmer, said that although the report for June was encouraging, there was nothing to celebrate. “We've got to keep driving the situation forward, there's no room for complacency at all,” she urged.

The Balearic government, Palmer said, sees that conditions are favourable for the creation of jobs in the private sector whilst in the public sector, austerity is still the buzz word in an attempt to balance the books.