Unemployment rate decreases to 10.2% in December
All in all, there were 520.7 thousand unemployed in December, a 3.2% decrease when compared to the previous month. The unemployment rate reached minimums of March 2009.
The final unemployment rate concerning December 2016 decreased to 10.2%, a percentage which relates to the November rate of 10.5%, in line with the forecast made by Statistics Portugal. The unemployment rate maintains, therefore, the downward tendency it has been showing since the beginning of 2016; it is also at its lowest percentage since March, 2009.
All in all, there were 520.7 thousand unemployed last December, a 3.2% decrease when compared to November. As for the employed population, there was a slight increase of 0.4%, to 4.6 million people, increasing the employment rate to 59.1%, against the 58.8% registered in November.
Among the young population, the unemployment rate was 26.2% in December and, in the beginning of 2017, should have decreased to 25.7%. If confirmed, it will be the first time since September 2009 that the unemployment rate will be once again close to 25%.
According to the provisional estimates disclosed by the Statistics Portugal, the unemployment rate should, in January 2017, continue being 10.2%. In spite of that, the unemployed population should increase to 521.8 thousand people, while the employed population should decrease to 4.59 million people. The employment rate should, therefore, decrease once again to 58.8%.
