Spain unemployment is highest in nearly four years as COVID-19 cases begin to fall

MADRID: The Spanish government says that the halting of most economic activity during April's strict confinement shot up unemployment to a total of 3.8 million, the highest figure in nearly four years.

Altogether 282,891 people registered as jobless in April, or 8 per cent more than a month earlier, data published on Tuesday by Spain's Labour Ministry shows.

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More than 300,000 people had already gone jobless the previous month, after authorities enacted a state of emergency on March 14 that provided the legal framework to confine Spaniards at home and deal with a pandemic that has killed at least 25,000.

The jobless statistics don't include the millions of workers in Spain that have been furloughed or seen a temporary reduction in the number of hours that they are working.

The government wants to prolong the state of emergency for two additional weeks to May 23, although opposition parties argue that the government doesn't need special powers during the lockdown roll back and are threatening to block the extension when the bill reaches parliament on Wednesday.

Spain has reported 218,011 cases with 25,428 deaths and 121,343 recoveries, according to Johns Hopkins tracker.