Virus-hit Spain's jobless rate jumps to 14.4 percent

Spain's unemployment rate jumped in the first quarter of 2020 to 14.4 percent, figures from national statistics institute INE showed, as a nationwide coronavirus lockdown hit the eurozone's fourth largest economy.

The jobless rate was up from 13.8 percent in the previous quarter, the highest level in the eurozone after Greece. Spain, one of the hardest-hit nations by the pandemic, imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 14 which has largely paralysed its economy.