Official data revealed that Spanish unemployment declined last year to the lowest level since the global financial crisis of 2008, largely due to a robust performance from the tourism-driven service sector on Tuesday.
By the end of 2024, the jobless rate in the European Union's fourth-largest economy was 10.61 percent, which was a decrease from the 11.76 percent rate the previous year, according to the National Statistics Institute.
A thriving economy has created 468,100 new jobs in the past 12 months, reaching an all-time high of 21.8 million positions.
A thriving service sector job market eliminated 100,000 jobs in unemployment during the year 2024, a year in which the world's second most popular destination welcomed a record 94 million tourists.
The key sector represents approximately 13 percent of an economy that is experiencing growth rates significantly higher than those of its fellow EU nations, giving crucial political leverage to the minority left-wing government.
"Fewer women out of work, less temporary work and more stable, high-quality employment," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
The Bank of Spain projects a 3.1 percent growth rate for 2024, in contrast to the 0.8 percent forecast for the European eurozone by the European Central Bank.
In 2008, the financial crisis brought about by the bursting of a massive housing market bubble led to a surge in unemployment, which climbed to approximately 27 percent at its peak in early 2013.
Spain's economic recovery was followed by a shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed unemployment above 16 percent before rebounding with the return of international travel and labor reforms.
Although unemployment rates in the eurozone are still among the highest, the government is working to reduce them to just over eight percent by 2027, which the government considers to be full employment in Spain.