In Spain, unemployment has remained one in seven.

The unemployment rate in Spain in the fourth quarter of 2008 was 13.91 percent, AFP reported, citing data on the national statistical agency INE. Previous quarter the number of officially registered unemployed in Spain reached 11.33 percent, which was the highest in the European Union. At the end of 2008 the number of unemployed reached 3.2 million.
The reason for the growth of unemployment has an impact on the economies of Spain, the global financial crisis, which damages many companies have risen sharply. To reduce costs the Spanish company began to reduce staff. According to the Government of Spain, in 2009, the unemployment rate to rise to 15.9 percent, and to assess the European Commission, the figure in 2010 will reach 18.7 percent.
In the third quarter of 2008, Spain's economy declined by 0.2 percent. Data on growth rates of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, has not yet been made public. The Spanish government expects that in 2009 the country's economy to shrink by 1.6 percent. Previously, the forecast was only one percent.
The slowdown in economic growth of Spain led to lower its sovereign rating. January 19, 2009 international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S & P) lowered rating of Spain with the highest "AAA" to "AA +". A few days earlier, S & P reduced the rating of another European country - Greece. Its rating was replaced with "A" to "A-".