The number of people in employment in Italy fell by 22,000 in May with respect to April, according to provisional data released by Istat on Thursday.
    The national statistics agency said the employment rate fell by 0.1% of a percentage point to 63.0% as a result.
    It said the number of unemployed people was down by 22,000 too, taking the jobless rate down by 0.1 of a point to 5.0%.
    Istat said the unemployment rate for under-25s who are active on the labour market fell by 1.3 points to 15.1%.
    The fact that both employment and unemployment were down was explained by a rise of 59,000 of the number of people who are not active on the labour market.
    Istat said the inactivity rate rose 0.2 of a point to 33.6%.
   
   

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