MADRID, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of people out of work in Spain grew by 49,900 people in the first quarter of the year, with jobless rate inching up to 14.7, official data showed on Thursday.
The number of people out of work rose to 3,354,200, according to Active Population Survey (EPA) published by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE).
This is the worst first-quarter performance in the first three months of the year since 2013.
Spain's Minister of Economy and Business, Nadia Calvino explained that the first quarter is traditionally a bad period for job losses in Spain, because many temporary contracts created over the Christmas period and the January sales come to an end.
She also said that this year's numbers have also been affected by the Easter holidays falling in April. That means that many contracts which usually begin in March had started a month later and not entered into the calculations for January to March.
Despite the rise in unemployment in the first three months of 2019, the EPA study also showed the number of people in work has risen by 596,600 over the 12 month period from the end of March 2018 to the end of March 2019.
The number of people out of work fell by 441,900 over the same 12-month period.
Calvino insisted the EPA data was better than expected and showed the "positive" evolution and the "remarkable dynamism" of the labor market.
With the EPA study published just four days before the April 28 general election in Spain, the minister said it showed there was no sign of a slowdown in job creation following a recent decision by the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez to raise the minimum wage to 900 euros (1,002 U.S. dollars) a month.
She said she saw "clear signs of improvement" in the quality of employment and that the unemployment rate would drop below 14 percent by the end of the year.
