Number of unemployed in spain rises

Madrid - More than 4.8 million people are registered as unemployed in Spain, the government said Tuesday, as an additional 113 097 joined the jobless ranks since December.

In releasing the data the Employment and Social Security Ministry also said that fewer workers are enrolled in social security programmes since last month.

However, the rate at which the jobless ranks are growing is slowing down, it said. January is a traditionally slow month for job creation because of the post-holiday lull.

The number of unemployed rose from December by 113 097, the lowest monthly increase since 2007, the data showed.

Employment Secretary Engracia Hidalgo stressed that the latest figures reflected a stabilizing long-term trend in the economy.

Compared to January 2013, the number of unemployed has declined by 166 343. Some 16.17 million people are enrolled in social security programmes, a 1.1% drop from December.

The ministry only counts the number of people who are registered with employment offices and does not calculate a national unemployment rate. Spain has the second-highest jobless rate in the eurozone after Greece.

It stood at 25.8% in December, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat's most recent data.

In January, Spain became the second of the eurozone's five bailout beneficiaries to no longer need outside help, a year and a half after it was granted an aid package to shore up its troubled banking sector.