People enter an unemployment registry office in Madrid, Spain, Monday, June 4, 2012. The Labor Ministry reported a drop of 30,313 people claiming benefits, to a total of 4.71 million unemployed people in May, a traditionally good month for hiring as companies prepare for the vacation season. (AP Photo/Alberto Di Lolli)
MADRID - The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Spain dropped only slightly in May, a month traditionally good for hiring as companies prepare for the vacation season.
The Labor Ministry reported Monday a drop of 30,113. That makes for a total of 4.71 million receiving joblessness benefits. It was the second straight monthly decline.
But as in April, the drop was small compared to the same month a year ago — 80,000 in May 2011 — in a sign of the recession gripping Spain, the second in three years.
The overall unemployment rate is released separately and quarterly. As of the end of March it stood at 24.4 per cent, and more than 50 per cent for people under 25.
The yield on Spain's 10-year bonds was unchanged at 6.47 per cent.
