Spain jobless rises, government says employment a priority

The number of Spaniards without work increased slightly in December as the traditionally busy holiday season failed to offset the economic slump, prompting the economy minister to say job creation must be a priority for the new government.
An additional 1,897 people registered with the Labour Ministry as unemployed in December, a rise of 0.04 percent from a month earlier, leaving 4.42 million people out of work, official data showed on Tuesday. "The evolution of employment at the moment puts into question the sustainability of the welfare state ... and is because of this our main aim. Our policy priority must be to fight this situation and get the labour market back to a position of job creation," Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Tuesday.
In 2011, those registered jobless rose by 7.9 percent or 322,286 people. Almost a third of eurozone unemployed are Spanish and just under half of young Spaniards are unable to find work. Tuesday's survey contrasted with similar data from Germany, the 17-nation eurozone's strongest economy, where unemployment fell in December to its lowest level since the country's reunification two decades ago.
Spain's new centre-right government, which trounced the Socialists in November's election, has said it will not touch the treasured education and health systems, but the rising cost of benefits payments is putting pressure on public coffers. The Spanish social security system is likely to have slipped into deficit in 2011, the government said on Tuesday.
The conservatives said last week that the 2011 budget deficit would be greater than expected at around 8 percent of gross domestic product, before announcing an initial savings package of almost 15 billion euros ($19.47 billion) to deflate the shortfall.
The premium investors demand to hold Spanish rather than German debt rose around 12 basis points on Tuesday from Friday's close - before the announcement on the 2011 deficit - as traders in international markets returned after new year holidays.