Spain's Unemployment Rate Rises to 27.2 Percent

6.2 million out of work

More than six million Spaniards were out of work in the first quarter of this year, raising the jobless rate in the eurozone's fourth biggest economy to 27.2 percent from 26.02 percent in the previous quarter, the highest since records began in the 1970s.

The number of unemployed climbed by 237,400 people to 6.2 million, the National Statistics Institute said on Thursday.