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SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTER, ELMA SAIZ<\/p>\nSPAIN\u2019S unemployment figures increased sharply in January according to official figures released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The number of registered unemployed rose by 30,392 to 2.44 million in January, according to the Labour Ministry- more than had been predicted.<\/p>\n
Crucially, Social Security registrations fell by 270,782 people compared to December, bringing the total number of contributors down to 21.57 million.<\/p>\n
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SOCIAL SECURITY MINISTER, ELMA SAIZ<\/p>\n
That was the biggest January fall in registrations in 14 years.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless over a 12-month period, the overall jobless total fell by 160,381- 6.7%.<\/p>\n
Social Security Minister, Elma Saiz, said: \u201cThanks to a significant year-on-year growth, the month of January ends with more people in work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to look carefully at the seasonally adjusted data and you can see that the behaviour of the labour market is still very solid,\u201d Saiz added.<\/p>\n
Across different sectors, unemployment in construction fell by 2.13% or 3,793 people, while it remained unchanged in industry, decreasing by 0.01% or 14 people.<\/p>\n
At the same time, unemployment in services rose by 2.01% or 35,073 people, and it increased by 1.19% or 881 people in agriculture.<\/p>\n
Unemployment among young people aged below 25 years rose in January by 4,040 compared to the previous month, marking its lowest hike for that month, according to the Labour Ministry.<\/p>\n
The number of foreign workers remains at its highest level in Spain at just over three million- representing 14.1% of the registered workforce.<\/p>\n