Unemployment rate rises to 6.1% in May

Portugal’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1% in May, the Statistics Portugal (INE) revealed this Wednesday. This is 0.2 percentage points (p.p.) higher than in the previous month, but 0.8 percentage points lower compared to the same period in 2021.

After two months of stabilisation, the unemployment rate rose again to 6.1% in May, a figure that, according to the statistic’s office, is 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous month, and 0.3 percentage points higher than three months earlier, but 0.8 percentage points lower than a year earlier.

In this context, “The unemployed population (314.1 thousand) increased by 2.1% from the previous month and by 4.3% from February 2022, having decreased from May 2021 (12.0%),” INE explained.

As for the employed population (4,846.5 thousand), it decreased by 0.7% from the previous month and by 0.8% from three months earlier. However, this index increased by 1.3% compared to the same period last year.

These statistics also revised upwards the unemployment rate for April from a provisional 5.8% to 5.9%, “the same as the previous month and three months earlier and 1.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier”.