The latest Spanish unemployment figures show a national rise of 35% in the number of unemployed, but in regions heavily dependent on residential construction, like Murcia, the rise has been far more dramatic, with unemployment almost doubling. Rapidly rising unemployment is a symptom of Spain’s construction sector’s slump, as immigrant workers on construction sites are laid off in their tens of thousands. In the Basque Country and Asturias, on the other hand, where residential construction is far less important to the local economy, unemployment actually fell, by 7% and 9% respectively.