 ::Unemployment in Spain has increased for the first time since 1993 in June and for the third consecutive month by 1.5 per cent. Over the month, 36,849 people joined the dole queues with construction and the service sector hardest hit. Foreign workers in the construction industry have been hard hit - up four per cent - with 9,973 joining the unemployment lines.::
::It is forecast that Spain will be the OECD country with the highest unemployment level in 2009, when the rate is now expected to reach 10.7 per cent. The number of workers registered with the Spanish Social Security system fell over the month by 199,259. The numbers are published by the Ministry for Employment and Immigration. The Deputy Prime Minister, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, described the numbers as bad, but underlined that net employment was still being created in Spain.::
::The problems for real estate companies and promoters have been underlined with the news that Promodico has filed for bankruptcy protection. It comes on the insistence of one of the two creditors of the company, which is the real- estate arm of the Dico group. The firm has accumulated debts of close to 10 million euros, according to lawyers’ data and joins a long list of real-estate companies who have suspended payments in Spain this year.::
::The ‘Solaria’ company has meanwhile seen its share price slip 13 per cent on the stock market today, following rumours on the market of possible regulatory changes. The company makes solar panels.::
::The price of telecommunications services to business fell by 3.5 per cent in the first quarter of the year, year- on-year, according to new figures from the National Statistics Institute, INE. The index of prices for the service sector, however, saw that passenger air transport rose by 2.1 per cent over the period and postal costs for companies were also up by 5.2 per cent.::
::Iberdrola Renovables, the renewable-energy wing of the power giant, Iberdrola, has made an offer of 175 million euros for the largest wind- power company in Greece, ‘Rokas’. The offer is for all the shares in the company and would consolidate Iberdrola as leader in the Greek market.::
::Differing opinions emerge as to how much we are going to spend in the sales this month and next. A report for the FUCI consumers’ organisation says the average Spaniard will spend 95 euors in the sales, while the stores have estimated the amount will be 220 euros, 20 per cent more than last year.::
::The IBEX 35 stock market index in Madrid has ended the worst six months in its history by losing 20.7 per cent of its value. The index started the month of July at 12,046 points. Only a few companies are up over the half-year – Grifols, Técnicas Reunidas, Mapfre and Repsol YPF. The index has been pulled south by the turbulence on financial markets, the lack of liquidity and the increase in crude oil prices. Some experts expect some form of recovery in the second half of the year.::
::Lemons have gone up in price over the month of June by 12 per cent, 63 per cent year-on-year, while sunflower oil and flour saw yearly increases of 45 per cent and 30 per cent. The price increase has been affected greatly by the striking lorry drivers last month, with other fresh food also greatly affected. Some items have fallen in price over the month of June, such as onions down 12 per cent, green peppers down six per cent and potatoes down three per cent.::
::The new power rates for electricity came into effect on July 1, with an average global increase in price of 5.6 per cent. Those who use most power will see prices up 8.3 per cent and those who use the least will become part of a new ‘social tariff’. Minister for Industry, Miguel Sebastian, said that the idea is to increase energy savings. ::
::In further evidence of the slowdown, car sales have shown their largest fall for 15 years. Numbers for sales over the first six months of the year were down 17 per cent - at levels not seen since 1998. The Minister for Tax and the Economy said that Spain saw growth of less than 0.3 per cent to June for the second consecutive quarter. The Minister said that the worst is still to come in the rest of this year and next.::
::Shops started their sales across the country in the hope that the ‘rebajas’ will save their trading year. Discounts of up to 70 per cent are said to be on offer to the bargain hunters in certain areas.::
::The Euribor has ended June at an all-time high of 5.361 per cent. After four months of increases it means the average increase in payments on a mortgage is about 900 euros more a year. It comes as the latest figures show the price of new housing in Spain is down 1.2 per cent in the provincial capitals across the country over the first six months of the year. Highest prices remain in Barcelona, San Sebastian and Madrid with prices falling the most in Canaries, Aragón, Navarra and Murcia.::
::According to data from the Ministry for the Economy and Hacienda, around 18.5 million tax forms have been presented this year, meaning 870,000 new tax-payers in Spain. 14.2 million of those are entitled to a rebate, while 4.2 million have to pay some more.::
::The Prosecutor’s Office is to take 650 businessmen to court following accidents in the workplace in Spain last year. Despite the number being nearly double that seen in 2006, some 40 per cent still escape being prosecuted in court. Each year such accidents take almost 1,000 lives across the country. Most of the problems are seen in small companies where accident prevention measures remain deficient.:: |
