Spain takes a breather after sharp losses

Spanish markets have stabilized, with bond yields edging down after soaring this week on renewed fears the country might eventually need a bailout.

Concerns over Spain's economy and fears that it might eventually be heading for a bailout pushed the country's borrowing costs in the world's financial markets higher on Friday.

MADRID (Reuters) - More than six million Spaniards were out of work in the first quarter of this year, raising the jobless rate in the euro zone's fourth biggest economy to 27.2 percent, the highest since records began in the 1970s. The huge sums poured into the global financial system by major central banks have eased bond market pressure on Spain, but the cuts Madrid has made in spending to regain investors' confidence have left it deep in recession.