Olives And Almonds - Your Andalucia

The number of unemployed in Spain reached 3.48 million last month, the highest level since 1996, the country's Labor and Immigration Ministry said on Tuesday.

In the case of foreign workers, the number of unemployed reached more than 473,000, and of those jobless migrants, just over 320,000 come from countries that are not members of the European Union.

Since February 2008, unemployment among foreign workers has almost doubled, increasing by 83.11 percent.

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of immigrants came to Spain seeking more economic opportunity, most of them from Latin American, North African and Eastern European countries.

The economic crisis affecting Spain has shown itself most clearly in sectors like construction and services, which just a few months ago were supported in large measure by foreigners but are now feeling the repercussions of the economic slowdown.

Global

On the global level, unemployment rose in February in Spain in all sectors, particularly in services, followed by construction.

The figures were announced on the same day that data about consumer confidence were made public, and the latter showed a decline in February after two rising months due to a worsening in public perceptions of the current shape of the economy.

The Spanish economy has officially fallen into a recession for the first time since 1993, according to figures released last month that showed two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the second half of 2008.

The INE statistics bureau reported that Spain's economy shrank 1 percent in the last quarter of 2008 compared with the previous three month period, when gross domestic product slipped 0.3 percent relative to the second quarter.

GDP

Spanish GDP grew 1.2 percent for all of 2008, down 2.6 percentage points relative to 2007.

The INE said a drop in domestic demand - only partially offset by foreign demand for Spanish exports - was the main factor in the decline in economic output in the fourth quarter.

Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government said in February that it expects the country's GDP to contract 1.6 percent this year, with the budget deficit hitting 5.8 percent of GDP and unemployment rising to 15.9 percent