Unemployment down in Basque Country

The Basque Country is the only Community in the Spanish State where the rate of unemployment has fallen. While the number of jobless in Spain has shot up to 20.05%, the Basque Country recorded a drop of 7.66%, putting the rate at 10.91%, according to figures officially published on Friday by the Spain''s National Institute of Statistics (INE).

In contrast to the Basque Country''s drop, the unemployment rate in Navarre rose by a staggering 17.26% taking the overall figure to 23.17%, which exceeds the national average.

Cantabria and Aragon register the highest levels of unemployment in the country, above 27%, followed by Galicia (23,45%), Extremadura (23,04%); Canarias ( 22,41%), Cataluña (21,58%) and Melilla (22,42%).

Highest rate since 1997

Spain''s jobless rate has surpassed 20 percent for the first time since 1997.

The National Statistics Institute says the rate rose 1.22% in the first quarter to 20.05%. The country is struggling to crawl out of a nagging recession after the collapse of a construction boom that had fueled years of growth.

The agency said in a news release Friday that as of the end of March, there were 4,612,700 people out of work in this country.

The jobless rate is the highest since the last quarter of 1997, when it stood at 20.11%.

The unemployment figure was actually released by mistake earlier this week when the statistics agency posted it online in error, then declined to confirm it as official.