Spain's unemployment rate drops to 10-year low Official statistics show that Spain's jobless rate dropped to 14.45 percent in 2018, the lowest in one decade

MADRID -- Official statistics show that Spain's jobless rate dropped to 14.45 percent in 2018, the lowest in one decade.

The National Statistics Institute said Tuesday there were 462,400 less people unemployed in Spain by the end of last year.

In Spain, where the tourism and harvest season often affect job statistics, unemployment has been falling steadily from a high of 27 percent in 2013, when the economy was suffering in the wake of a property market meltdown during the global financial crisis.

While the drop in unemployment has been steady, critics say the recovery has been too slow and the jobs that have been created pay low wages and offer little job security.

The institute says a net 566,200 more people were employed in Spain last year, the biggest annual increase since 2006.