Investing.com - The number of unemployed people in Spain rose for the first time in three months in January, dampening optimism over the health of the euro zone’s fourth largest economy, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Spain’s Employment Ministry said the number of unemployed people increased by a seasonally adjusted 78,000 last month, disappointing expectations for a drop of 32,400. The number of unemployed people fell by 64,400 in December.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1324 from around 1.1332 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7549 from 0.7554 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were higher after the open. Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 0.8%, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 0.7%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.4%, Germany’s DAX ticked up 0.35%, while London’s FTSE 100 edged 0.4% higher.