Job creation in Spain hit a record high for the month of May as restaurants and hotels in particular took on staff, data showed on Friday. The robust pace of hiring in Spain, which is gradually making a dent in its unemployment rate - Europe's second-highest, is helping to extend an economic recovery which had been expected to ease up in the first half of 2017.
Instead, output may expand at a faster quarterly rate from April to June than the 0.8 percent recorded in the first three months of the year, according to some analysts, partly as exports and investments by companies thrive. The number of people paying into the social security system - a measure of job creation - grew by 223,192 in May from April to just over 18.3 million, marking the biggest month-on-month surge since July 2005, Spain's Labour Ministry said. May is traditionally a good month for the labour market, as firms and resorts take on staff ahead of the busy summer tourism season, and the hospitality sector created almost three times more jobs than any other.