The number of unemployment claims in Spain continued to increase last month, as the economy's spiral continued unabated.

According to the State Employment Service, the total number of registered jobless workers in the Mediterranean country rose by 82,132 individuals to 4.1 million in February.

This is equivalent to more than 18 per cent of the workforce and is the highest total recorded since the current series of records began in 1996.

Joblessness continued to rise in the construction sector, which has performed poorly since the outbreak of recession, while unemployment also increased in the services industry.

However, Maravillas Rojo, secretary general for employment, claimed that the job figures did contain some cause for optimism.

He said: "The labor market adjustment continues, though at a much lower rate than last year, when in annual terms unemployment rose 50.3 per cent [compared with 20 per cent this time]."

Last month, the Bank of Spain governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez suggested that changes to the country's labor market policies are necessary to repair the battered economy.