Unemployment at 6.9%: 3rd consecutive month of increase and end of the "golden age" of the labor market in Portugal
The Portuguese employment situation is no longer good. The unemployment rate in Portugal has been increasing since November of last year. This trend prompts some economists to speak of the end of the "golden age" of employment in Portugal. The provisional estimate from the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics confirms a further increase, the third consecutive. In January, unemployment reached 6.9% of the Portuguese population and the rate is 19.3% among young people. There is no official explanation for this increase in unemployment. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the Portuguese unemployment figures.
Unemployment at 6.9%: 3rd consecutive month of increase and end of the "golden age" of the labor market in Portugal
0.3% more unemployment: the end of the "golden age"
The year begins with unemployment alerts. In the first month of 2020, provisional estimates released on Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE) indicate an increase in national unemployment to 6.9%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to the month of January 2019 and 0.2 percentage points compared to December last year. Since November, Portugal's unemployment rate has been on a growth trajectory, although in December it reached 6.7%.
Some experts had already argued that the “golden” age of the Portuguese labor market had reached the end of the cycle, after the publication of unemployment indicators for the last quarter of 2019. Unemployment closed 2019 up for the first time since 2013, reaching 6.7%, an increase of 3,300 unemployed compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, when Portugal had 352,400 unemployed on its territory. Estimates released on Friday reinforce this upward trend in unemployment.
Youth unemployment rate increases by 0.7% to 19.3%
Dreaded rise in unemployment, young people strongly impacted
According to INE data, in December 2019, 349,400 people were unemployed, 0.4% (1,300) more than in November, 2.5% (8,500) than in September 2019 and 1.8% ( 6,100) compared to December 2018. The figure represents a downward revision of 2.3% (8,300) from the provisional estimate published a month ago. But this maintains the upward trajectory feared by economists.
Especially since the provisional estimate for January 2020 indicates a further increase in unemployment. In the first month of the year, 358.6 thousand people were unemployed, an increase of 2.6% (9,200) compared to the previous month (December 2019), 6.1% compared to October 2019 and 5.4% compared to the same month of 2018.
Unemployment in Portugal has increased in all age groups. Among young people, the unemployment rate was estimated at 19.3% and registered an increase of 0.7% compared to the previous month. The rate is 5.9% among adults, which represents a 0.1% increase from the previous month