Number of unemployed Spaniards hits 4.18 million

A new report released by Spain’s Ministry of Employment and Social Security shows that the number of Spaniards without a job has reached 4.18 million.

According to the ministry’s report, which was released on Tuesday, this is the third rise in the jobless figure during the past three straight months.

The report also noted that the month-on-month rise in registered jobless numbers stands at 82,327.

The ministry said, however, that “unemployment always rises in October” when as seasonal rise in jobs during summer comes to an end, AFP reported.

Unemployment in Spain started to rise once again in August, after it had subsided for six straight months. The main cause for the resurgence in the country’s unemployment has been given as reduction in job opportunities available in Spain’s tourism, fishing and agriculture sectors.

In the meantime, Spain’s national statistics office, INE, says a total of 4.85 million people have been out of work at the end of the third quarter of this year, which accounts for 21.18 percent of the country’s working-age population.

INE figures usually come in higher because they take into account all people who are actively seeking work as opposed to only those who have registered with job agencies.

Spain’s conservative government has noted that it expects a slight drop in unemployment to 21.1 percent by the end of the year, down from 23.7 percent compared to a year earlier. The government also hopes the fall could give it a boost in status ahead of the general elections, which are slated for December 20.

The Spanish jobless rate is the highest among 19 member states of the eurozone with the exception of Greece.

The figure, however, has fallen significantly from a peak of 26.9 percent in early 2013 and is also lower compared to the 22.6-percent jobless rate that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy inherited when he took office at the end of 2011.