Unemployment in Portugal falls for the third month in a row

Portugal’s unemployment rate fell to 7.2% in November 2020. According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), this is the third consecutive month in which this indicator has recorded chain falls. Even so, the rate was 0.5 percentage points (p.p.), higher than in the same month a year earlier.

According to the statistical information published this Thursday, in November, the unemployment rate stood at 7.2%, 0.3 p.p. less than in October, but 0.5 p.p. more than in the same month of 2019. This is the third consecutive month in which there has been a downturn in the chain variation. After the increase in unemployment during the summer (June, July and August), September began the downward trend, with October and November consolidating it.

Among young people too, these setbacks are being reflected. In November, the youth unemployment rate was estimated at 23.3%, 1.4 p.p. less than the previous month.

As far as employment is concerned, INE indicates that in November the employed population has increased by 0.6% compared to the previous month and decreased by 0.9% compared to the same month in 2019. The 11th month of 2020 brought, all in all, 27,000 more jobs. In the same line, the unemployed population has declined by 3.1% from October 2020, but it has increased by 8.1% compared to November 2019.

As for the working population, INE’s provisional estimate shows that in November there was an increase of 0.3% from the month before to 5,87,100 people and a decrease of 0.3% from a year earlier.