By Vivienne Russell | 30 July 2012

Spain’s economy shrank for the third consecutive quarter this year, contracting by 0.4% over the three months to June, according to official estimates.

The figures, published today by the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (National Statistics Institute), follow a 0.3% contraction in the first quarter of the year.

Over the year, gross domestic product has fallen by 1%.

‘This behaviour was due to the more negative contribution by domestic demand, partly compensated by the positive contribution of foreign demand,’ the INE said.

Employment figures published by the INE at the end of last week showed that jobless figures had climbed to 5.7 million over the three months to June. A quarter (24.6%) of Spanish adults of working age are now unemployed.

Agriculture was particularly badly hit, with 44,000 farm workers losing their jobs over the quarter. However, there was growth in employment in the service and construction sectors.