LUSA 10/31/2024

Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Unemployment rate of 6.4% in September, unchanged since August

Lisbon, Oct. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - According to provisional figures released by Statistics Portugal (INE) on Wednesday, the unemployment rate in Portugal stood at 6.4% in September, the same as in August and 0.2 percentage points lower than in the same month in 2023.

‘The unemployment rate stood at 6.4%, the same as the previous month, but lower than three months earlier (0.1 percentage points) and a year earlier (0.2 percentage points),’ says INE in its Monthly Employment and Unemployment Estimates.

According to the statistical institute, in September the unemployed population (351,900) increased compared to the previous month (1.7%) and three months earlier (0.9%), but decreased compared to a year earlier (1.2%).

‘In September 2024, the activity rate (68.%) was the highest since the start of the series that began in February 1998,’ and “the employment rate, at 64.3% in September 2024, was also the highest since the start of the series,” he points out.

The inactivity rate stood at 31.2%, the lowest figure since the beginning of the series.

INE also released today the final estimates of employment and unemployment for August, confirming the previous forecast of an unemployment rate of 6.4%, 0.1 percentage points lower than in July and the same as in May 2024 and August 2023.

In September, the labour force (5,459,000) increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month (0.4%), June 2024 (1.1%), and September 2023 (1.4%).

The employed population (5,107,200) increased in relation to the three comparison periods: 0.3%, 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.

Conversely, the inactive population (2,477,600thousand) fell compared to the previous month, three months earlier and September 2023, by 0.7%, 1.6% and 0.3% respectively.

In September, the labour underutilisation rate stood at 10.8%, 0.1 percentage points higher than in August 2024, but lower than in June of the same year (0.2 percentage points) and September 2023 (0.9 percentage points).

Labour underutilisation covered 605,100 people in September, ‘slightly above’ the previous month's figure (594,000), the lowest recorded since February 2011.

According to the final estimates for August, the employed population (5,090,900) increased over the three comparison periods: 0.6%; 0.3% and 1.4%, respectively.

In turn, the unemployed population (346,000) decreased compared to July (0.9%), remained practically unchanged compared to three months earlier and increased compared to August 2023 (1.2%).

The labour force (5,436,900 people) increased compared to the previous month (0.5%), three months earlier (0.3%) and a year earlier (1.4%). At the same time, the inactive population (2,493,900) decreased compared to July (0.9%) and the same month in 2023 (0.2%), having increased by 0.2% compared to three months earlier.

In August, the labour underutilisation rate stood at 10.7%, lower than in the three comparison periods by 0.3 percentage points, 0.2 percentage points and 0.9 percentage points.

PD/ADB // ADB.

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