The rate of growth of unemployment in Spain could slow over the rest of the year after May saw the first decline in joblessness in 14 months, Spain’s labour minister told ABC in an interview on Sunday.

‘I don’t think the sharp falls we’ve seen in employment, especially in construction, will be repeated this autumn. Figures may not be positive in September and October (…) but the worst is over,’ Celestino Corbacho said.

Spain’s Socialist government says economic stimulus spending has begun to put a lid on jobless numbers, which hit 3.62 million in May, down from 3.64 million in April.

But net job creation will go hand-in-hand with economic growth, said Corbacho, who declined to say whether he believed jobless numbers could reach 5 million.

‘We entered this crisis at the speed of a hurricane, but we won’t get out of it at the same speed,’ he said.

Unemployment has risen faster in Spain than in any other European Union country after the global credit crisis caused a a decade-long residential construction and real estate boom to implode.

via Spain minister says worst of jobless crisis over – Forbes.com.