The number of unemployed registered at job centers fell 1.2% in February compared to January, interrupting a series of seven consecutive months of increases, but rose 4.9% year-on-year to 331,008, according to the IEFP.
These figures represent 4,045 fewer people unemployed in February compared to the previous month, but 15,363 more people compared to February 2023.
The number of registered unemployed had been rising for seven consecutive months in a row and for eight months year-on-year.
In a note sent to Lusa, on the data released today by the Institute for Employment and Professional Training (IEFP), the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security indicates that the year-on-year increase in unemployment in February is the result of the “increase in the active population”.
The number of registered unemployed “is the third lowest for the month of February in the last 20 years (only higher than 2020 and 2023)”, adds the office.
Long-term unemployment (people registered for more than a year) reached its lowest level since records began, with a decrease of 2.3% (2,765 fewer people) compared to the previous month and a drop of 4.1% (4,926 fewer people) year-on-year, representing 35% of registered unemployment (38.3% in the same month of 2023).
Youth unemployment increased, with 879 more young people than in the same month in 2023, according to the ministry.
“These are very positive results, which confirm the stabilization of unemployment at the lowest levels of this century, even with the challenges we have faced since 2020, with a pandemic, a war and rising inflation,” says the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho.
She also points out that “Portugal is at an all-time high in terms of the number of people in employment, a growth that is also sustained in terms of wage increases, i.e. more and better jobs”.
According to the note, registered employment “has maintained a sustainable growth trajectory since April 2021”, having increased by 2.8% in January compared to the same period last year (+113,234 workers compared to January 2023).
“In the same period, this increase in the employed population was accompanied by a 7% increase in the average basic salary, which had an impact on the 10.6% increase in social contributions in January 2024, compared to the same month last year,” the office adds.
Unemployment rate remains at 6.6% in November, but rises compared to the same month last year
