Spaniards still suffering from crisis: PM

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has admitted that jobless Spaniards and their families are still suffering the consequences of the economic crisis.

Rajoy made the remarks on Monday after drawing criticism last week when he claimed that the country’s six-year long financial crisis was “history.”

The prime minister added that not all Spaniards have noticed an improvement in their economic situation and the recovery has not reached all fairly since the country exited recession last year.

“We have to be aware that the recovery has not come to everyone, nor to everyone equally,” said Rajoy, adding, “The economic recovery will not be complete until it comes to every household and to every person who is without a job, and until it is felt in the pocket of every single Spaniard.”

Spain’s economy plunged into recession in 2008 when a property bubble burst and put thousands of laborers out of work, with the resulting aftershock claiming millions of more jobs across the country.

The eurozone’s fourth largest economy technically emerged from recession in mid-2013.

However, Spain’s unemployment rate stands at 23.7 percent, making it one of the highest in the developed world. Madrid predicts that the jobless rate will merely drop to below 22.15 percent in 2015.

According to a recent report, one in four Spaniards, or 11.7 million, are living in poverty, of which 77 percent are jobless and 61 percent are struggling to have a place to live.