Unemployment rate in Portugal falls to 9.5% in April

Statistics Portugal (INE) made a downward revision of the April unemployment rate from 9.8% to 9.5%, in comparison to the first estimate revealed about one month ago. This is the lowest percentage since December 2008, when unemployment rate was 9.3%. In May, INE’s prediction is that the rate will stand at 9.4%, continuing the downward trend.

“The April 2017 unemployment rate stood at 9.5%, down by 0.3 percentage points (p.p.) from the previous month’s level”, INE states. It is estimated that the unemployed April population is 490.7 thousand people. As for employed population, the estimate is that there are 4,663.5 thousand people.

Concerning May, the downward trajectory seems to continue. INE’s provisional estimate points to an employment rate of 9.4%. “For this month, the provisional estimate for the unemployed population was 484.8 thousand people and for the employed population it was 4,658.9 thousand people”, INE states; employment rate was 59.8%.

Although, overall, the unemployment rate continues decreasing, that is not the case for the ages between 15 and 24. After an improvement trajectory until March, unemployment among the youth has been increasing: 23.8% in April and 24.6% in May. “Still in May 2017, there was a monthly decrease in the employed population of young people (15 to 24 years old)”, INE clarifies. Employment rate for that age group stands at 25%, 0.7 percentage points less than in April.

Even so, Portugal maintains the decreasing tendency in unemployment since February, when it was able, for the first time since 2009, to have an unemployment rate stand below 10%. The Portuguese Government has already stated the unemployment rate will continue to stand below 10%, thanks to a “very positive” evolution to be witnessed throughout the year, with a “strong job creation”.