Spain's unemployment figures surpass the 5 million mark

The National Statistics Institute says Spain's unemployment figures have surpassed the 5 million mark, with the jobless rate shooting up from 21.5 percent to 22.8 percent in the fourth quarter.

The institute said Friday 5.3 million people were out of work at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter.

The figure was lower than the 5.4 million estimated by the finance minister Thursday. Spain already has the highest unemployment rate in the 17-nation eurozone.

The new conservative Popular Party government pledges new labor reforms to try to halt further job losses.

The economy is expected to slide back into recession this quarter because of declines in GDP in the last quarter of 2011 and the first of 2012.