Lisbon, Jan. 6, 2025 (Lusa) - The unemployment rate stood at 6.7% in November, 0.1 percentage points higher than in October and the highest since October 2023, according to provisional figures released on Monday by Statistics Portugal (INE).
‘The unemployment rate stood at 6.7%, higher than in October (0.1 percentage points), August 2024 (0.3 percentage points) and November 2023 (0.2 percentage points),’ the INE wrote in its “Monthly Employment and Unemployment Estimates”.
It says this is the ‘highest level since October 2023, when it equalled that figure [6.7%]’.
According to the INE, in November 2024, the unemployed population (363,800) increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month, 5.0% compared to three months earlier and 3.1% compared to November 2023.
The employed population (5,107,000) increased compared to the previous month (1,500, corresponding to almost zero relative variation), three months earlier (0.3%) and a year earlier (1.3%), reaching the highest value since the start of the series that began in February 1998.
The active population (5,470,900) was also at its highest since the start of the series, increasing compared to October 2024 (2.600, an almost zero relative change), August of the same year (0.6%) and November 2023 (1.4%), while the inactive population (2,484,100) grew by 0.3% compared to the previous month and decreased by 0.4% compared to three months earlier and 0.3% compared to the same month in 2023.
In November, the labour underutilisation rate stood at 11.0%, higher than in October (0.1 percentage points) and August (0.2 percentage points) and lower than in November 2023 (0.6 percentage points).
The labour underutilisation rate stood at 613,700 people, higher than in August of the same year (602,400), which was the lowest figure since February 2011, when the analysis began.
The inactivity rate remained at 31.2% in November, the lowest figure since the series began.
INE also released today the final estimates of employment and unemployment for October 2024, confirming the previous forecast of an unemployment rate of 6.6%.
According to the final estimates for October, the unemployed population (362,800) increased compared to September (1.2%) and July 2024 (3.7%) and October 2023 (0.8%).
The employed population (5,105,500) also increased that month compared to the three comparison periods: 0.1%; 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.
The labour force (5,468,300) increased compared to the previous month (0.1%), three months earlier (1.1%) and a year earlier (1.4%), while the inactive population (2,476,100) remained practically unchanged compared to the previous month and decreased compared to three months earlier (1.7%) and the same month in 2023 (0.2%).
In October, the labour underutilisation rate stood at 10.9%, lower than in the three comparison periods: 0.1 percentage points, 0.3 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points.
PD/ADB // ADB.
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