30 Apr 2012

Return to recession tipped for Spain

3:15 pm on 30 April 2012

Official figures due on Monday are expected to show Spain is back into recession.

Figures issued on Friday showed that more than 24% of the workforce is now jobless - the highest rate of all 17 countries in the eurozone.

More than 5.5 million people in Spain are out of work. Some 365,900 have lost their jobs since the start of the year alone.

Earlier, Standard and Poor's downgraded Spanish sovereign debt.

Daiwa Capital Markets economic research director Tobias Blattner says the outlook for the economy is exceptionally gloomy. He thinks Spain could be forced to accept a rescue package from Brussels.