Spain’s jobless figure rose by more than 282,000 in April, largely due to the collapse of tourism during the coronavirus lockdown, labour ministry figures showed on Tuesday.
The numbers followed a “historic” increase in March when the government counted more than 300,000 new job seekers.
The total number of unemployed in the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy has now reached 3.8 million, the ministry said.
At the end of March, the National Statistics Institute (INE), which calculates figures in a different way, gave Spain’s jobless figure as 3.31 million
Spain imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 14 which has largely paralysed its economy, sending the number of job seekers spiralling.
Ministry figures show the number of state handouts rose to “record levels” with nearly 5.2 million claimants in what was an increase of nearly 137 percent.
That number includes those who have been furloughed.
The blow was particularly felt in the services sector and among workers with temporary contracts as a result of the devastating loss of visitors over the Easter period, when the tourism industry usually moves into high gear.
