An employment office in Madrid. CARLOS ROSILLO

April has been a particularly good month for the Spanish job market. The number of people who filed jobless claims went down by 129,281, the biggest drop for a single month in the entire historical series. The previous record had been set in June 2013. The total number of people without a job now stands at 3.57 million, according to the Labor Ministry.

Meanwhile, the number of employed grew by 212,216, as measured by new Social Security affiliations. This brings the total number of contributors to the national welfare system to 18.12 million.

The calendar has helped boost job figures for April: the Easter holidays always mean increased hiring, especially in tourist destinations. As a reflection of that, employment grew in all sectors but most particularly in the hospitality sector, where 96,069 new jobs were added.

The unemployment rate in Spain is around 18.7%, down from the high of 27% in 2013, when the country was in the grip of a crippling economic crisis. Despite a recovery and good growth forecasts, Spain still has the second-highest jobless rate in the EU after Greece.