Spain’s jobless figure drops 5th month in a row

Madrid, August 2 (AP/UNB) – Spain’s Labor Ministry says the number of people registered as unemployed dropped for a fifth consecutive month in July as the busy summer tourist season continued to create jobs.

The ministry said Friday the total number of people registered as jobless fell by 64,866 last month to a rounded total of 4.69 million – giving it an unemployment rate of 26.3 percent.

It said the last time Spain registered five consecutive monthly reductions was in 2007, just prior to the start of the economic crisis.

The ministry added that the drop in July’s unemployment figures was more than double the reduction posted in same month 2012.

The government claims two years of austerity measures and reforms are starting to work and predicts Spain’s recession will end this year.

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