Unemployment rate in Portugal falls to 6.5% in February – INE provisional estimate
The INE revised its estimate for unemployment down to 6.7% in January. For February, provisional figures point to a rate of 6.5%.
The unemployment rate in Portugal fell to 6.5% in February, according to estimates published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this Tuesday. In January the unemployment rate was 6.7%, below the provisional figure released by INE last month.
INE says “the information in this press release does not yet reflect the current situation determined by the pandemic Covid-19,” adding that “It is possible that the analysed trends may change.”
In February 2020, the employed population corresponded to 4,846,200 people, according to the estimate. This figure represents a decrease of 0.2% both in relation to the previous month and three months earlier, “having decreased by 1,300 (corresponding to a relative variation of almost zero) in relation to the same month of 2019,” points out INE.
The youth unemployment rate stood at 19.5%, the same value as in the previous month. The adult unemployment rate fell by 0.2 p.p. in relation to the previous month, to 5.5%.
Regarding the January rate, with the figures now confirmed by INE there was a stabilisation in that month, instead of an increase, as it was the same as in December. This means that 2020 started with a stabilisation of the unemployment rate at 6.7%.
