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4/25/13

The growing pain in Spain

For  many of us who watch in horror as Obama screws up the US economy, spare a thought for the pain in Spain where budget deficits are also out of control, home prices are still falling, GDP is down 2% annualized in the first quarter, production is down, the unemployment rate soared a full percentage point to 27.16%, and a record 6.2 million are out of work. Two million out of 17.4 million Spanish households are without a single person holding a job.  Job losses were particularly heavy in the services sector, but also in industry and farming.
Construction has shed more than 1.6 million jobs since 2008 as a result of the bursting of Spain’s housing bubble.  These numbers are an indication of a freefall, not a bottom. Yet,  Prime Minister Rajoy says the Spanish economy has bottomed and Spain will return to growth this year.   Read more