The number of employed workers in Spain has surpassed 20 million workers for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008, after 359,300 jobs were created in the summer months of 2021, 1.8 percent more than in the previous quarter.

In September 2021, the number of people in work in Spain was 20,031 million.

The jobless rate declined to 14.57 percent in the July-September period from 15.26 percent in the previous quarter, national statistics office INE said.

The unemployment rate remains above the 13.78 percent rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 before the pandemic hit Spain.

The INE jobless figures are based on surveys, which provide a more reliable indication of unemployment as many people who jobless are not eligible for benefits.

The bulk of the new jobs, 377,200, were created in the service sector which is dominated by tourism.

The industrial sector added 63,000 jobs while agriculture shed 49,600 posts.

Before the pandemic hit in spring 2020, Spain was the world’s second-most popular tourist destination after France, and the sector accounted for around 12 percent of the economy.

The Spanish government has said it was hoping to attract around 45 million tourist visits this year, approximately half the figure for 2019.

The Spanish economy contracted by 10.8 percent in 2020, one of the worst results among industrialised countries, but it returned to growth in the second quarter this year.

The statistics office is set to release gross domestic product data for the third quarter on Friday.