An update from the euro zone’s fourth largest economy, which remains a bit of a smoldering hole—a monthly look at the ranks of the unemployed in Spain showed yet another slight improvement, with the number of people registering as unemployed declining by 2,475.
On the one hand, that’s definitely a better outcome than having more Spaniards falling out of employment. And it’s also worth pointing out that it’s the first decline on record—records go back to 1996—for the month of November, which usually sees a post-tourist season rise in joblessness. But let’s not kid ourselves. Spain’s unemployment problem is still staggering, as more than 4.8 million remain out of work.
The national unemployment rate—which is calculated from a quarterly survey separate from the data released today—was just shy of 26% in the third quarter. Only Greece has it worse, with a jobless rate that tops 27%.
