Wow. 5,3 million unemployed in Spain at the end of 2011, is the guess of President Rajoy. He made the comment this evening at a hearing in Congress, saying that although he had still not received the final data from the Stats people, he expected the unemployment rate for the end of 2011 to be “around” 5,3 million people. Out of a working population of around 23 million people, that means for every 4,6 workers, one person is unemployed. That’s almost a quarter of the workforce. Staggering.
Rajoy has also said he expects the final shortfall in public finance to hit 90 billion euros for 2011 (double previous estimates), and has promised a major revamp of the Spanish public finances by the 15th of Feb, including strict debt ceilings for the regions.