- Estefania Ponte, head of economy at trading house Cortal Consors
Spanish unemployment rate climbed to a new high in September, with roughly 25% of the population being unemployed, as a result of housing market collapse and economic downturn, the Labour Ministry reported on Tuesday. The jobless rate rose by 79,645 in September, or 1.7%, to leave 4,705,279 Spaniards out of work.
"There is a certain slowing down in the rate of increase in unemployment but the negative side is that jobs are still disappearing," said Estefania Ponte, head of economy at trading house Cortal Consors.
"(Tuesday's) figures added to the rise in VAT (from September 1)suggest consumer spending will continue at very low levels during the third quarter and above all in the last quarter of the year," Ponte said.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased 0.26 per cent to 271.62. Germany's DAX Index fell 0.28 per cent to 7,305.86 and France's CAC 40 Index inched lower 0.60 per cent to 3,414.23.
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