* Jobless rate rises 1.2 percent, hits 4 mln people
* Service sector faces sharp lay offs
* Gov't says growth needed to bring rate down further
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MADRID, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Spain's unemployment rose above four million people in September, with another 48,102 people laid off last month as workers left jobs after the summer tourist season.
Data from the Labour Ministry showed total registered jobless rose by 1.2 percent to 4.018 million in September. It was the second month running in which unemployment had risen, though the number laid off was down from 80,367 in the same month a year ago. Spanish unemployment was the highest in the euro zone at over 20 percent in the second quarter part of a fragile recovery that economists worry could see the economy slip back into recession at the end of this year.
In comparison, last week data showed unemployment stood at 10.1 percent in the euro zone in August.
Some 53,585 people were laid off in Spain's service sector in September, while in the badly hit construction sector unemployment fell.
The overall number of jobless was up by 8.3 percent from the same month a year ago.
"The data show a marked seasonal factor given that unemployment rose mainly in the service sector," said work secretary Maravillas Rojo.
Rojo said the data was not good, though she said they showed signs of improvement. A more sustained economic recovery would need to be seen for the situation to improve further, she added.
The government forecasts unemployment to average 19.8 percent this year, dipping to 19.3 percent next year.
Spain's plans to reduce its budget deficit, part of efforts to stave off a debt crisis of its own, are dependent largely on getting the economy back on its feet, people back into work and resulting revenues for public coffers rising. (Reporting by Nigel Davies; editing by Patrick Graham)