Spain's unemployment hit a 15-year high in the third quarter with little hope new jobs will be created any time soon by a battered economy that remains at the forefront of investor concerns about Europe's debt commitments. Meanwhile, consumer prices rose well above the European Central Bank's target, threatening to delay any recovery in household spending by cash-strapped, credit-starved Spaniards.
Spanish unemployment rose to 21.5 percent from 20.9 percent a quarter earlier, data showed on Friday, as the number of people out of work came close to 5 million. "The lack of job creation is likely to linger well into 2012. The austerity measures are cutting into the number of public-sector jobs, while private-sector employment is expected to fall well short of picking up the slack," economist at Global Insight Raj Badiani said. The eurozone's fourth largest economy, which would stretch EU budgets and political will if it needed aid, is not expected to grow in the third quarter and many analysts say a recession can't be ruled out over the next six months.