Jobless total in July down to lowest since 2008

The number of people looking for work in Catalonia rose by 1,558 in July, leaving the country's jobless total at 358,830, according to Spain's labor ministry on Friday.

Despite the July increase, the unemployment total is the lowest for this month since 2008, when the number of jobseekers in Catalonia stood at 321,964 people.

Compared with the same month last year, there were 10,294 fewer people registered as out of work with the Employment Service, a decrease of 2.79%. 

For Spain as a whole, the jobless total fell by 4,253 people in July, leaving total unemployment standing at 3,011,433, a drop of 0.1%.

The figures contrast with those released this month based on the state statistics institute's labor force survey (EPA), which put unemployment in Catalonia at 431,300 people.

The variation in the figures is due to the different methods for gathering data. The labor ministry figures are based on the number of jobseekers registered with the Employment Service, while the EPA figures are taken from surveying a broad sample of 65,000 households, or some 200,000 individuals, all over Spain.