Madrid, Aug 7 (IANS/EFE): Spain's economy is growing at a 0.10 percent rate in the third quarter, based on the available data, with "the improving trend in the (economic) activity indicators appearing to show consolidation", banking giant BBVA said Tuesday.

The Spanish economy "is hitting bottom in 2013" with a drop in the gross domestic product of 1.4 percent and will begin a moderate recovery in 2014, achieving growth of 0.90 percent, the bank said in its "Situacion España" report on the July-September period.

The forecast is slightly more pessimistic than the one made by the government for this year, but BBVA expects the economy to expand at a faster clip in 2014 than the government does.

"It is to be expected that Spain will match the recovery process in the next few quarters that was normally seen in prior economic cycles," BBVA said.

Spain's unemployment rate should drop by nearly 1 percent to 26.2 percent in 2013 and fall to 25.4 percent in 2014, BBVA said.

Spain's unemployment rate hit 27.16 percent in the first quarter of this year, with 6.2 million people registered as jobless in the Iberian nation.

Spain has been mired in a deep recession since 2008 due to the financial crisis caused by the bursting of the real estate bubble.