Unemployment continues to rise in the Canary Islands. The number of unemployed people in the islands registered with public employment offices increased by 4,801 people during March 2012, an increase of 1.72% over February 2012 and the total figure of registered unemployed now stands at 283,699,  according to data released recently by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security.

The Canary Islands have accumulated an increase in unemployment in the last 12 months of 22,497 people (+8.61%). Nationally, unemployment in March entered its eighth consecutive month of increases, with a rise of 0.82%, which raised the total number of unemployed people in Spain to 4,750,867.

By Canarian provinces, unemployment increased in February both in Las Palmas, where it rose by 2,580 people, (+1.74%), as in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where an extra 2,221 people (+1,70%) registered as unemployed. Las Palmas currently has 150,662 registered unemployed, 10,370 more than last year (+ 7.39%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife accumulates 133,077 unemployed, 12,127 more than in March 2011 (+10.03%).