Unemployment rate below 10% for the first time since 2009
In February, the unemployed population was around 508.3 thousand people. The revised unemployment rate drops below 10% for the first time in eight years, to 9.9%.
Statistics Portugal (INE) revised downwards the unemployment rate estimate for this year’s February, which is now 9.9%, the lowest rate since February 2009. The flash estimate for March is 9.8%, but it is subject to further revision.
In February, the unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points in comparison to January, the lowest threshold from the past eight years. There were 508.3 thousand unemployed in Portugal — a 1.9% decrease in comparison to the previous month — and there were 4,630.2 thousand employed, INE disclosed.
The unemployment rate remains above the Euro Area average, which was 9.5% in February. However, Eurostat highlighted, in the report, that Portugal had one of the largest homologous decreases from the countries of the European single currency, right after Spain. Europe maintains the lowest unemployment levels since 2009.
Czech Republic (3.4%), Germany (3.9%) and Malta (4.1%) have the lowest unemployment rates; Greece and Spain continue having the largest unemployment rates.
