Spain: More than 5 million unemployed

Madrid, 27 Jan. (AKI) - Spain's unemployment rate hit almost 23 percent, hitting 5.27 million in the fourth quarter last year. That's that highest rate in 15 years and more than twice the average of the 17 countries that use the euro currency.

Spain's jobless rate is expected to rise as a recession affects hiring in 2012.

Unemployment was "the main source of vulnerability of the Spanish economy—it's something we hope to start to fix," finance minister Luis de Guindos told Bloomberg Television.