Unemployment rate decreases to 7.9%, the lowest since 2008
Unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in the first quarter of 2018, the lowest number since 2008, INE disclosed. This rate has been falling in comparison to the previous quarter for almost two years.
The Portuguese unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in the first quarter of 2018, 0.2 percentage points (pp) less than in the previous quarter and 2.2 pp below what was registered one year ago, according to INE. The unemployment rate marks a plunging trend in comparison to the previous quarter since the second quarter of 2016 — the same is to say that the rate has been plunging for almost two years.
Although it fell below the 8% threshold, the evolution of the unemployment rate maintains the same minimum it had registered in the last quarter of 2017. The same is to say that one would need to go back to the fourth quarter of 2008 to find a lower rate.
Between October and December of 2017, the unemployment rate stood at 8.1%. In the beginning of last year, unemployment had affected 10.1% of the active population.
As for the youth unemployment rate (between 15 and 24 years-old), it was 21.9%, “the lowest percentage of the series that began in the first quarter of 2011. In comparison to the previous quarter, that rate decreased 1.6 pp”, INE adds. Just like in the comparison to the previous quarter, the homologous variation of youth unemployment between the youth points to a 3.2 pp decrease.
Employed population above 400 thousand in the first quarter
In the first three months of the year, 410.1 thousand people were unemployed. This number decreased 2.8% in comparison to the previous quarter (11.9 thousand), which corresponds to the quarter-on-quarter decreases registered since the second quarter of 2016.
As for the homologous period, the unemployed population decreased 21.7% (113.8 thousand), a slightly lower decrease than in the previous quarter.
In spite of the improvements, the unemployment population stood above 400 thousand, although the unemployment levels registered in employment centers stands below that threshold.
