"The fall in unemployment and improving recruitment are no longer purely seasonal or temporary phenomena, rather these are sustained trends that are going to be reinforced month on month and are consistent with the data on hiring"
-Engracia Hidalgo, Spanish Secretary of State for Employment
Upbeat news came out from Spain, where the labour market continues to improve. The number of registered job seekers declined in June, as the nation's economic recovery keep gaining momentum. According to Spain's labour ministry, the number of unemployed fell by 122,684 in June against analysts' expectations for a 150,100 decline, but marking a bigger drop compared to the May's figure. Over the last 12 months unemployment claims fall by 313,979. Meanwhile, the number of employed increased by 56,000 in June to a total number of people in work of nearly 16.7 million, helped by hiring for the holiday season.
Nevertheless, the Eurozone jobless rate remains high, as the 18-nation area is still unable to create enough jobs to make a significant dent in the unemployment rate. The number of people out of work fell by a slight 28,000 in May from a month earlier to 18.6 million, according to the statistics office Eurostat. Despite the fact that the Eurozone officially came out of recession in the second quarter of 2013, the unemployment rate has fallen only by 0.4 percentage points since then. Analysts said that the lack of any real improvement is worrying, despite announcements by some European officials that the worst of the continent's economic crisis is behind it.
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