UNEMPLOYMENT in Spain will not reach the five million mark ‘far from it’, insists second vice-president and minister for the economy, Elena Salgado (pictured).

The central government says employment will fall by 5.9 per cent this year, with an average of 17.9 per cent unemployed.

This will rise to 18.9 per cent by 2010, they predict.

But in a press conference at the Council of Ministers on Friday, Salgado stressed that jobless figures will ‘absolutely not’ reach these figures since, she says, five million unemployed would equate to 20 per cent of the working-age population, which is currently estimated to be 25 million people.

“It’s important to stress this: there is nothing in these figures that brings us close to a figure of five million unemployed,” stated Salgado.

“The government will do everything possible in order that unemployment rates are better than those predicted.”

At present, the government predicts that employment will no longer be created until 2011, and even by 2012 jobless figures will be around 17 per cent.

During the same press conference, vice president of the government María Teresa Fernández de la Vega announced that they are ‘on the right track’ and working on providing help to families, workers and companies, creating employment, and injecting cash into the monetary system.