Il Spanish government could ask the eurozone for help as early as the weekend. This was reported by "high-ranking European sources" quoted by Reuters: "The Spaniards are a bit hesitant, but now they are ready to ask for help," said a senior European official quoted by the agency. According to the newspaper El Mundo, Mariano Rajoy's executive has already communicated to Brussels its intention to forward the official request for the activation of the rescue plan. The procedure provides for the signing of a memorandum with the ESM, the new permanent state-saving fund, which would allow the purchase of government bonds by the ECB.
Some Spanish government sources heard by the same newspaper, however, specify that "nothing is decided yet” and that for the moment no “urgency” is felt, because “the priority for Spain now is compliance with the agreements made during the last summit”.
Meanwhile, new alarm signals are coming from the economy of the Iberian country. According to data released today by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, in September the new unemployed were 80 thousand, equal to an increase of 1,72% compared to August. The the total number of unemployed reached 4.705.278, for an increase of 11,3% on an annual basis.
Unemployment has increased in all sectors: agriculture, industry, construction and services. Also in September, 1.241.191 employment contracts were registered (-10,9% compared to the same month in 2011), of which only 98.002 were permanent contracts, equal to 7,9% of the total (-6,4% on annual basis).
According to Eurostat data, Spain maintains the record for unemployment in the European Union as a whole with a rate of 25,1% in August, compared to the average of 11,4% for the eurozone and 10,5% for the EU27.
