Spain's National Statistics Institute said on Thursday that the country's jobless rate went down to 23.7 percent in the third quarter from 24.5 percent in the second, in another sign that the economy is continuing its recovery from two recessions.

That represents a drop of 195,200 in the number of people out of work, bringing the total number of unemployed to around 5.4 million, the Institute said. The rate is the lowest for almost three years.

Last quarter saw 5.6 million people in Spain with no employment. The jobless rate is at its worst among young people under 30, with the figure hovering around a staggering 45 percent.

The Spanish government says, however, that it expects 622,000 positions to be created by 2015, ending a six-year run that saw thousands of jobs annihilated in the wake of the 2008 world financial crisis.

Its hopes appear justified in light of the continuous economic expansion over the past four quarters, with overall growth of 1.3 percent predicted for the year.

Greece is the only country in the eurozone to have more people out of a job, with an unemployment rate of more than 26 percent.

tj/ipj (AFP, Reuters)