The number of people out of work in Spain is poised to surpass 3m amid a deepening recession caused by the collapse of the country's housing market and the global financial crisis, according to official statistics released yesterday, writes Victor Mallet .

Unemployment, at about 12 per cent of the workforce, is at its worst since 1996 and is already the highest in the European Union. "There is general agreement that 2009 is going to be worse than 2008," said Pedro Solbes, finance minister.