Madrid: Spain's unemployment rate inched up in the first quarter, official data showed Monday, a sign of prudence by some employers in an economy still forecast to outperform its European peers this year.
The jobless rate in the European Union's fourth-largest economy hit 11.36 percent between January and March, up from 10.61 percent in the final quarter of last year when it reached its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, figures from National Statistics Institute showed.
A total of 2.79 million people were registered as unemployed at the end of March, 193,700 more than in the previous quarter when seasonal work typically rises due to the Christmas holiday.
This is the first time since the first quarter of 2024 that unemployment has increased in Spain, with joblessness up in all sectors, especially services.
Spain has a historically high unemployment rate compared to its neighbours.
The rate peaked at around 27 percent in early 2013 in the wake of the financial crises but has steadily fallen in recent years as the key tourism sector performed strongly following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Spain's economy expanded by 3.2 percent last year, outstripping official forecasts and far outperforming its eurozone peers.
The Bank of Spain predicts the country's economy will continue to outrun its European peers in 2025 and expand by 2.7 percent.
