The number of people in employment in Italy in May rose to 24.3 million, the highest level on record since the start of the statistical series in 2004, according to provisional data released by Istat on Wednesday.
    The national statistics agency said the number of people in work was almost 1.3 million higher than the pre-COVID period of January 2020.
    It said the number of people in employment grew by 80,000 (0.3%) with respect to April and by 408,000 (1.7%) compared to May 2024.
    Istat said the employment rose 0.2 of a percentage point to 62.9% in May 2025.
    The agency said the number of the unemployed also rose while the number who are not active on the labour market fell.
    It said the number of unemployed people was 1.691million, up by 113,000 with respect to April, taking the jobless rate up 0.4 of a point to 6.5%, and by 15,000 compared to May 2024.
    Istat said the youth unemployment rate climbed 1.7 points to 21.6%.
    It said the number of inactive people aged between 15 and 64 decreased by 172,000 on April to 12.119 million, taking the inactivity rate down half a point to a record low of 32.6%.
   
   

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