The secretary of state for the economy, Jose Manuel Campa, said Thursday that Spain has survived the worst of the recession, though he cautioned that annualized GDP will not turn positive until the second quarter of 2010.

Spain has the highest unemployment in the European Union, according to the latest figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistics agency.

Eurostat said in a report that the Spanish jobless rate was 18.1 percent in June.

Spain's economy is currently in its first recession since 1993, with the construction and service sectors having been especially battered by the global financial crisis.

In June, the central bank said in its annual report that it feared unemployment in the Iberian nation would remain high for an extended period and jeopardize economic recovery.