Unemployment falls to 8.8% in August. INE anticipates a new decrease in September
The unemployment rate decreased a tenth in August. And in September, unemployment should decreased once again, Statistics Portugal (INE) estimates. However, the numbers are worse among the youth.
The Portuguese unemployment rate decreased to 8.8% in August, according to data from Statistics Portugal (INE) disclosed this Monday, a better percentage than last month’s estimate. INE also foresees a new decrease to 8.6% in September.
In August, unemployment decreased one tenth in comparison to July, standing at 8.8%. This is “the lowest observed estimate since November 2008 (8.9%)”, INE stated. It also represents an improvement in comparison to the initial estimate, since INE had pointed to a stabilization of the 8.9% rate.
August’s unemployment rate represents 451.7 thousand unemployed, 1.5% less than in the previous month. As for the employed population, it suffered a 0.1% increase, according to seasonally adjusted values.
As for September, INE makes a provisional estimate that there will be another decrease in unemployment, to 8.6%. The final value will be confirmed by next months’ highlight.
Youth unemployment rises
In spite of the decrease in unemployment, INE discloses that numbers are worse when the analysis concerns the youth.
In August, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 increased 1.6 percentage points, to 24.8%. In September, it should have increased again to 25.7%.
