MADRID - Spain's unemployment rate has reached 26.02 percent in January, the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security reported on Monday.

The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain rose by 2.72 percent in January with a total of 4.9 million people out of work, according to the ministry.

While unemployment fell by 59,049 in December, it is now clear the short-lived improvement was due to the creation of temporary jobs over the holiday period.

The service sector was most affected by the loss of jobs, with 108,982 people losing employment. The agricultural sector was also hit hard with 15,303 people becoming unemployed, along with 7,763 in industry and a further 3,470 in the already decimated construction sector.

Youth unemployment continued to rise with a further 7,205 people below 25 joining the ranks of the unemployed, although there has been a slight improvement in this area over the 12-month period.

Monday's figures are different from those of the National Institute of Statistics released on January 24 which said there were almost 6 million people unemployed in the country at the end of 2012.