Spanish jobless tops 3 million and hits 12-yr high

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's number of jobless leapt more than expected in December to top 3 million for the first time in over 12 years and the government said unemployment would swell further in 2009.

The number of people out of work jumped by 139,694 people, the ninth straight month of increases, government data showed on Thursday.

The Labour Ministry's tally of 3.13 million jobless nearly matches totals in much larger economies such as Germany, where the December figure was 3.18 million.

Since December last year, Spain's registered jobless has soared by 999,416 people or 46.9 percent as the global credit crunch toppled a decade-long housing boom and hammered spending in Spanish shops.

"In 2009 it will be very difficult, in that unemployment will continue growing due to the fall in economic activity and demand," Employment Secretary General Maravillas Rojo said in a statement.

Spain's jobless level compares with 5 million in the United States, which has over seven times more workers, and underscores the country's over-dependency on construction, easy credit and consumer spending to drive 14 years of rapid economic growth.

Analysts had expected Spanish joblessness to rise sharply in December, as the euro zone's fourth largest economy entered its first recession in 15 years, but were surprised by the increase which was four times higher than the year-earlier month.

"This figure was worse than we expected. We're expecting some bad months, especially in the first half of the year. Right now, it doesn't look like the situation will get any better," said Sergio Diaz Valverde, economist at Caja Madrid.

Spain's construction sector was the hardest hit, registering a loss of 70,701 jobs after a collapse in house building amid a glut of up to 1.5 million unsold homes.

That was followed by services which shed 46,471 posts as shops were hit by unseasonably low consumer spending, the Labour Ministry said.

In the months leading up to Christmas, the services sector has shown the highest level of job losses. However this effect was less in December as restaurants and retailers took on staff to cover the holiday surge in business.

Spanish unemployment in October stood at 12.8 percent, the highest level in the European Union, the EU has reported.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Hay and Manuel Maria Ruiz; editing by Stephen Nisbet)