Madrid – (AFP):
The number of registered unemployed people in Spain increased by about 23% in 2020, as the country suffered economic repercussions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, government figures showed Tuesday.
By the end of the year, the number of unemployed increased by 724,532 people from last year’s figures, to 3,888,137 people, according to Ministry of Labor data.
In December alone, 36,825 people were registered as unemployed. At the height of the epidemic, in March and April 2020, this number reached nearly 600,000. By the end of the year 2020, the number of people who were still on temporary leave reached 755 thousand, according to official figures, with the government plan continuing until the end of January of this year.
360,000 jobs were eliminated during the year 2020, based on the number of people who make social security contributions into account.
“We are ending a horrific year of employment,” said Lorenzo Amur, vice president of the Spanish Federation of Employers’ Organizations, which called on the government to extend the twice renewed “forced work leave scheme”.