International Desk

Spain's unemployment rate dropped in the second quarter, official data showed Friday, as a continued tourism boom added jobs in the services sector.

The jobless rate fell to 11.3 percent between March and June in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, down from 12.3 percent in the previous three months, national statistics institute INE said in a statement.

The services sector saw the biggest drop in the number of job seekers with nearly 200,000 fewer than in the first quarter but unemployment also dropped in other sectors, including construction, industry and agriculture, it added.

The total number of people employed in Spain rose by 434,700 people in the second quarter from a quarter earlier to hit a new record of 21.68 million.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that "Spain is making progress by breaking employment records.

"We continue to work to make this the legislature of full employment. We are going in the right direction," he posted on the social network.

Spain's unemployment rate jumped in 2008 as a result of the financial crisis following the bursting of a real estate bubble.

It hit a peak of around 27 percent in early 2013.

The jobless rate has dropped as tourism boomed following the end of Covid travel restrictions and labour reforms were passed to reduce the number of temporary contracts.

Nevertheless, Spain's unemployment rate is still one of the highest in the eurozone.

Spain, the world's second most visited country after France, received a record 85 million tourists last year, with the figure expected to hit a new record in 2024.