Portugal’s unemployment rate stood at 6.9% in February

  • ECO News
  • 5 April 2021

In the second month of 2021, the unemployment rate stood at 6.9%, according to INE. The employed population increased.

The unemployment rate stood at 6.9% in February, stable from the previous month. According to Statistics Portugal (INE), in the second month of 2021, the employed population increased by 0.2% compared to January, despite the country being in lockdown. The labour underutilisation rate worsened by 0.1 percentage points to 13.9%.

According to the data released this Monday, in February, the employed population corresponded to 4,677.5 thousand people, 0.2% more than in the previous month, but 1.7% less than in the same period.

Regarding the unemployment rate, the second month of the year brought no changes compared to the previous month. The indicator in question remained at 6.9%, the same as in January, but up 0.4 percentage points on the same period the previous year.

The youth unemployment rate stood at 21.6%, down 1.4 percentage points from the previous month. In comparison, among adults, the indicator was significantly lower (5.9%), but the opposite trend was registered, i.e. it increased (0.1 percentage points).

INE points out, on the other hand, that the labour underutilisation rate worsened by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, to 13.9%. Compared to February 2020, there was a jump of 1.2 percentage points. Labour underutilisation aggregates the unemployed population, the underemployment of part-time workers, the inactive seeking work but not immediately available, and the inactive available but not seeking work.