Recession-hit Spain's unemployment rate stood at twice the eurozone average in the third quarter, virtually stable compared to the previous three months at 17.93 percent, official data showed on Friday.

In the second quarter, the jobless rate was 17.92 percent, up from 17.36 percent in the first three months of the year.

There were 4.123 million people registered as unemployed at the end of September, 1.524 million more than a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute said.

The number however was 14,100 less than at the end of the second quarter of this year, INE said.

Spain entered recession in late 2008. Its economy, Europe's fifth biggest, has been hit particularly hard by the world economic crisis after a decade-long boom driven by the construction industry came to an end.

The government has forecast that the high unemployment rate will climb still further, closing the year at 17.9 percent and rising to 18.9 percent in 2010.