Portugal: Unemployment rate falls to 6.1pct in October – official

The unemployment rate in Portugal dropped to 6.1% in October from 6.3% in October 2021, remaining unchanged from the previous month, according to provisional data released today by Statistics Portugal (INE).

“In October 2022, the unemployment rate remained at 6.1%, similar to that seen the previous month,” INE’s ‘Monthly Employment and Unemployment Estimates’ noted.

In October 2022, INE estimates that the active population (5,197,600) decreased by 0.2% over the previous month and increased by 0.5% compared to October 2021 and that the inactive population (2,460,500) rose by 0.4% year-on-year and decreased by 1.9% year-on-year.

According to INE, the monthly decrease in the active population “resulted from the decrease in both the employed population (8,000; 0.2%) and the unemployed population (2,200; 0.7%)”, while the monthly growth in the inactive population “was mainly explained by the increase in the number of inactive people available but not seeking employment (7,600; 6.4%)”.

The employed population (4,881,000) rose 0.7% compared to October of last year, despite having fallen 0.2% compared to the previous month, while the unemployed population (316,600) grew 3.5% year-on-year and contracted 0.7% quarter-on-quarter.

The employment rate in October was 63.7%, close to the figure for August when it “reached its highest level (63.9%).

The INE data also estimated that the labour underutilisation rate stood at 11.4% in October, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month and 0.3 percentage points below the same month in 2021.

This INE report also confirmed September’s unemployment rate at 6.1%.

The statistics institute pointed out that several indicators showed performances not seen since February 1998.

In September, and about the data for that month, the inactive population registered its lowest value (2,450,100), and the activity rate had its highest value (68.0%).