Best employment figures in Spain since 2005

Over 600,000 new jobs were created in 2017 and overall figure drops to 3.4 million

2017 ended with the highest number of new jobs created since the immigration legalisation process in 2005.

The number of new social security contributors last year rose to 611,146 - a figure unseen in 12 years.

And the 2005 figure was only achieved after the then PSOE MP José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero signed a mass legalisation of illegal immigrants that saw thousands of them added to the social security's list of contributors by obtaining legal contracts.

In comparison to December 2016, the overall number of unemployed workers has dropped by almost 300,000, resulting in an annual fall of 7,84%.

A total 61,500 people found jobs last month - the best fig- ure in the past eight years, when the average had been 40,992.

Temporary contracts for the Christmas and New Year campaign in the services sector account for the majority of new jobs, for which reason unions are warning that despite the good reports, an effort still has to be made to ensure employment stability.

The number of unemployed workers in Spain is still very high at 3,412,781, although recent years have witnessed a significant improvement, with the figure dropping by over 1,600,000 since the worst figure reported in 2013.

There are now 18,460,201 contributors to the social security system, the highest figure since 2008.