“The unemployment rate stood at 6.1%, higher than in July 2025 (by 0.1 percentage points) and lower than in May 2025 (by 0.1 percentage points) and August 2024 (by 0.2 percentage points),” reported the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
INE also released final figures for July, adjusting the unemployment rate for that month upwards to 6.0% (from the initially estimated 5.8%), still the lowest since March 2022 (5.9%).
The unemployment rate in July was 0.1 percentage points lower than in June 2025, 0.2 percentage points lower than in April 2025, and 0.5 percentage points lower than in July 2024.
In August, the rate of labor underutilization was estimated at 10.4%, higher than the previous month (by 0.3 percentage points), lower than three months earlier (by 0.1 percentage points), and lower than the same month last year (by 0.4 percentage points).
The inactivity rate was estimated at 30.3%, the lowest value since the data series began in February 1998, with the employed population (5,265.4 thousand) reaching the highest value recorded.
Meanwhile, the unemployed population (341.3 thousand) increased in August compared to July 2025 (by 7.7 thousand; 2.3%) and decreased compared to May 2025 (by 6.1 thousand; 1.8%) and August 2024 (by 3.8 thousand; 1.1%).
According to INE, the active population (5,606.7 thousand) rose relative to July 2025 (by 9.8 thousand; 0.2%), May the same year (by 37.8 thousand; 0.7%), and August 2024 (by 170.8 thousand; 3.1%).
At the same time, the inactive population (2,438.8 thousand) decreased concerning all three comparison periods: the previous month (by 4.3 thousand; 0.2%), three months earlier (by 17.4 thousand; 0.7%), and the same month in 2024 (by 56.1 thousand; 2.3%).
In August, the unemployment rate for women (6.3%) exceeded that for men (5.9%) by 0.5 percentage points, while the unemployment rate for adults (5.1%) matched that of June the same year.
The youth unemployment rate was the lowest, at 18.9%, recorded in both June and August 2025 since June 2023 (18.5%).
