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The Spanish public employment in December exceeded the barrier of 3 million people without work in 2008 after adding about a million newly unemployed.

The Ministry of Labor reported Tuesday that 139,694 registered unemployed in December over an increase of 4.6% over the previous month, and the number of unemployed stood at 3,129,000 people, the worst balance since 1996.


Among the immigrant population, the data returned to alarming levels. The monthly rise in unemployment was 8.25%. In total, more than 410,000 foreigners are registered in employment services.

"We are facing a global situation that is new and unprecedented and the year 2009 will be very difficult, to the extent that unemployment will continue to grow as a result of the collapse of production and consumption," said the secretary general for Employment, Maravillas Rojo.


The impact of the economic crisis in key sectors in the country's growth, such as construction and services, with particular virulence have beaten the labor market.

According to the records of the Ministry, unemployment rose by 46.9% over 2008. In other words, almost one million people lost their jobs.


Among immigrants, about 200,000 were unemployed, an increase of 93.8%.

December was the ninth consecutive month in which unemployment rose. According to the European statistical agency Eurostat, Spain is the EU country with the largest number of unemployed.


Therefore, the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero recently approved a package of measures to stimulate job creation.

Specifically, the plan involves a financial injection of 11,000 million euros (about 15,000 million U.S. dollars) to help sectors such as automobiles and promote various public works to promote the recruitment of unemployed.


Other measures, provide economic incentives to reward companies that hire people with special family.

"There is a reasonable expectation that all measures taken in Europe and the Spanish government have effects (positive) on employment," said Rojo.


Among immigrants, the executive launched in November called for voluntary return plan, an initiative to promote the return of unemployed foreigners to their countries of origin.

The plan provides for the payment of unemployment benefit in advance and includes a commitment not to return to Spain in at least three years. However, in just over a month, less than 800 immigrants have applied for the scheme.


After a decade of tremendous growth, the Spanish economy is on the verge of recession due to the international crisis and the profound stagnation in the property sector.