MADRID (Reuters – Spain’s unemployment rate dropped by 2.77% to 3.02million in April. It was the lowest since July 2019 and comes as Spain hires faster, bringing formal jobs up to 20,000,000 for the first ever time, as official data revealed on Wednesday.

Most industries added employment during the month. A strong recovery in the tourist industry that was hit by the pandemic in April also led to improvements in data for the labour market, according to the Labour Ministry.

Europa Press Madrid hosted a meeting where Yolanda Diaz, Labour Minister, stated that “unemployment data are more accurate than they were when we took power.” In January 2020, the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was sworn into office with his Cabinet.

This data represents the third month in succession of declining jobless numbers and the lowest level of unemployment since April 2008.

The minister said that a recent labor reform passed by the lower house of the country has resulted in an increase in the number of permanent labour contracts and encouraged formal employment.

In a separate report, the Social Security Ministry stated that the month concluded with nearly 20.1 million individuals having a formal employment contract. It was also the first month of its historic series in which more than 20 million jobs had been created.

Spain’s quarterly unemployment rate fell last year to levels pre-2008, but it rose in this first quarter to 13.65%, according to statistics. However, it remains well below the year-ago level, said the country’s statistics division last week.