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Spain’s impressive unemployment declines gained further momentum last month, beating expectations to drop by 112,000 in May.

The decline – which marks a 3 per cent fall in the unemployment rate in May from April – underscores Spain’s steeply falling jobless rate which has tumbled to its lowest rate since 2009 at 17.8 per cent.

That’s still the second highest in the eurozone after Greece, but it is down from 20 per cent last April. The eurozone’s average rate is also at a eight-year low of 9.3 per cent this year.

May’s 112k drop beat a forecast of 110k and follows on from a 129k decline in April. There are now 3.5m Spaniards out of work, according to the country’s labour ministry.

Spain has been one of the eurozone’s standout economies following its housing crash, recession and banking bailout five years ago. The economy grew by a robust 0.8 per cent at the start of the year – higher than the eurozone average – and is expected to post a 2.8 per cent annual expansion this year.

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