Number of Spanish unemployed falls to 4.71 million

The number of jobseekers in Spain fell by a slight 0.63 percent to 4.71 million people, the second consecutive monthly drop after hitting a record high in March, the Labour Ministry said Monday. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the industrialised world, with 24.44 percent of the workforce idle, according to the national statistics office Ine. On a 12-month comparison the unemployment rate was still higher however, with 524,463 more people looking for jobs, an increase of 12.52 percent. "We find ourselves in a second phase of recession, which even if it is not as brutal and deep as the first, has had a negative impact on employment," said Engracia Hidalgo, the Spanish junior labour minister. The government has forecast 2012 unemployment of 24.3 percent, but expects it to edge slightly lower in 2013. Spain fell into recession early this year just two years after pulling out of its last one, and official data showed Thursday that investors pulled a record amount of money out of the debt-ridden country in the first three months.