Spanish jobless rate drops for first time in two years.

Spanish unemployment surprisingly fell for the first time in two years in Q2, dropping to 26.26% from 27.16% previously and vs consensus for a rise to 27.3%. A strong tourist season helped improve employment, although there were still 5.98M people without a job, half of whom haven't worked for over a year. Notwithstanding, Spanish shares (EWP) were +0.3% at midday in Europe, bucking the global trend.