BBC's doom & gloom news today: Spain's unemployment rate has hit 20% for the first time in nearly 13 years, official figures have shown.

There were 4,612,700 people unemployed in the country at the end of March, the national statistics agency INE said.

Spain's jobless rate has risen sharply during the economic downturn and is the highest in the eurozone. end quote.

# The real figure is probably a lot higher !.... hey but "things can only get better" ... I look forward to the new boom - so be ready people - skill up, gen-up and learn the lingo - learn the lesson !

not really new news - but if the BBC is saying it maybe my dad in the UK will finally believe me!

It would be interesting to know how this breaks down by location. I have a feeling that the rich cities aren't doing as badly as the poor countryside.

Yes when I go back to London for a business meeting people say "at least the situation in Spain can't be as bad as here" and this from businessmen! Tells me something about the lack of international news in the UK media

Discussed on the Esuri thread today. Link I put on says 30% in málaga province Usually drops a bit during the summer season!

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...614581&page=27

A truly awful figure, but....there is conversely a huge "black economy".

Yes that is true but equally (according to spanish forums) all those who are not receiving unemployment benefit are not included

I'd be willing to bet a lot of the unemployed, are working in the black economy.

Those figures are truly horrendous, but I must be living in a bubble because all my Spanish friends and acquaintances are employed, and I live in what is considered a 'poor' area.

You can't blame them as there are no handouts or free rents as in the UK if you have no income you have to depend on friends and family or Caritas just to get enough to eat. There are more and more young middle class turning up at feeding centres just as there was in 1992 when we arrived in Spain. There was 22% unemployed and the rate of exchange was 166 pesetas to the pound and British pensioners were going back to the UK in droves as they couldn't manage on the state pension which was all many of them had and a large number lived in rented property. Things are worse if you are unemployed in big cities Madrid is full of unfinished housing estates which the Spanish buyers have paid up to half the price for and now have to repay their mortgage for homes that are unlikely to be completed or have services for a long time to come , if ever.

I'm lucky enough to be back in work (after a year out of work in the UK). I think that certain areas have held up - for example shops, as the low pound has attracted millions of tourists to the UK, well most of them to London and Oxford it seems. The IT industry has been very severly hit, but indications I'm getting from the IT contractors forum is that things have picked up a little in the last 3 months. A lot of concern though from contractors working on public projects as they realise that those projects will be cut after the election.
I suspect also that levels of unemployment are probably similar in the two countries, just that the way of measuring it is different. There are certainly plenty of people without a job in the UK:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-inactive.html

I see desperate people every day on my long journey into work in north London. Yet if you go down Charing Cross, Notting Hill or London Bridge there are plenty of affluent people. They say the "poor are always with us", I suspect "the rich" are always there too!

Here's an interesting breakdown of the unemployment figures in the different regions on an English-language blog:

http://oreneta.com/kalebeul/2010/04/...n-on-the-dole/

In Andalucia there are 2,891,000 people in work, supporting 1,081,000 people out of work
In Catalunya there are 3,099,000 people in work, supporting 676,000 people out of work
In Madrid (province) there are 2,863,000 people in work, supporting 552,000 people out of work.
Perhaps the best ratio is in the Basque country: 928,000 people in work, supporting 113,000 people out of work. (Asturias and Cantabria appear to have a lower level of unemployment too)

So, based on those figures, the best places to find work are in Catalunya, Madrid and the Basque country, although to be fair the figures do not (and cannot) take account of (possibly seasonal ) black economy work.

Interesting!

So our our 'Hondon' regions beong Valanciana and Murcia - it's about 23% [SCARY ].. although for sure with the Costas along here there is a BIG - I mean BIG black economy and seasonal work and many exPats don't register as unemployed (how they manage I just don't know).

If anyone wants to compare - here are the UK 'employment stats' - http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=12

?

A spanish friend claims that the black economy is not so large now on the CDS as they have been doing many inspections in bars and restaurants since the recession. I also read in Sur that the jobless figure is higher because only those receiving unemployment benefit are counted.