Budget cuts push Spain jobless to 25 percent [1]

People wait to enter a government-run employment office in Madrid September 4, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Susana Vera

(Reuters) - Spain's unemployment rate hit a record high in the third quarter, with one in four out of work and more expected to lose their jobs in 2013 as the next phase of government cutbacks kicks in.

At exactly 25 percent, Friday's official number was the highest since the Franco dictatorship ended in the mid-1970s, and gives fresh impetus to calls by labor unions for a general strike next month.