Spanish housing sales plunge

Agence France-Presse

The National Statistics Institute (INE) said there were 37,931 housing sales in January.

Although sharply down from the same figure a year ago, the figure was up 17.1 percent from December.

Spain's economy, the fifth largest in Europe, entered into recession at the end of last year as the global financial crisis exacerbated a correction that was already underway in the construction sector, the engine of its growth.

The slump in the building sector has spread to other areas, pushing the unemployment rate to 13.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, the highest level in the 27-nation European Union.