COVID in Spain – Some 900,000 workers have lost their job and at least another 620,000 have seen their contracts suspended

Spain has shed jobs at a record pace since it went into lockdown to fight the coronavirus, social security data showed on Thursday, laying bare the scale of the epidemic’s impact in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.

Some 900,000 workers have lost their job since mid-March, with those on short-term contracts in tourism or construction among the hardest hit. At least another 620,000 have seen their contracts suspended with temporary layoffs and tens of thousands are on sick leave.

“The data is extraordinary, it’s unprecedented,” Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva told a news conference. “It reflects a real disruption to normal activity.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ Coronavirus lockdown destroys jobs at record pace in ‘paralysed’ Spain – Reuters