Spain unemployed could reach 5 mln-labour minister

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Saturday April 16, 2011 04:47:08 PM GMT

April 16 (Reuters) - MADRID, April 16 (Reuters) - The number of Spaniards out of work could reach a record high of 5 million if the active workforce continues to rise, Labour Minister Valeriano Gomez said in an interview published on Saturday in Expansion.

Spanish unemployment is more than double the European Union average at 20.3 percent and has risen by around 2.5 million to 4.7 million since the beginning of the economic crisis in the first quarter of 2008.

"Whether or not we rise above the 5 million level really depends on the active workforce," Gomez told Expansion.

Immigration during the boom years has helped inflate the work force by almost 3 million since 2005 and, while the number of people looking for a job has fallen slightly since the collapse of the property sector, it remains too high, Gomez said.

The government has said it expects the near-paralyzed economy to begin creating net jobs by the second half of 2011. Official forecasts see a slow fall in the unemployment rate to 16 percent by 2014 from 19.8 percent this year.

Spain's economic woes and the government's handling of one of the largest public deficits in the euro zone has been under intense scrutiny by international investors concerned the bloc's fourth largest economy could be forced to seek EU/IMF aid.

A slew of austerity measures and structural reforms, including of the labour market, have helped calm investor nerves, but doubts over the depth of the housing industry crash continue to fuel uncertainty. (Reporting by Paul Day)

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