Spain's unemployment falls by 195,200 people in third quarter

 A total of 195,200 people found jobs in Spain in the third quarter of the year raising the total number of people in the workforce to a total of 5,427,700, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE).
According to the Inquest into the Active Population (EPA), Spain's unemployment rate stood at 23.67 percent, falling for the first time below 24 percent since 2011. The improving job market was suspected to be due to the large number of tourists arriving in the country during the summer which helped create jobs, especially temporary jobs in the service sector.
In this sector, 108,800 new jobs were created during the third quarter, followed by 71,800 new jobs in industry and 43,500 in construction.
Meanwhile, the number of women out of work fell by 56,500 and the number of unemployed men fell by 138,700, making women's unemployment rate 25.01 percent and men's 22.53 percent.
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was optimistic when speaking about the EPA announcement.
He said the increase in employment was "good news" but as the issue is one of the government's main priorities, he would not be satisfied until unemployment significantly fell in the country.
Thursday also saw the Bank of Spain unveil new data about Spain's economic growth. The Spanish economy grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter in comparison with the second quarter.
Rajoy said this data helped in remaining confident in the government's predictions.