Youth unemployment continues to grow in Portugal, with the number of jobless increasing from a staggering 35% in February to 35.4% in March.
Statisticians however are quick to manipulate the increase and put a positive spin on the figure.
Eurostat explains that data for the same time last year saw even more young people out of work, with the number of jobless running to a horrific 40.1%.
Still, Portugal’s whopping rate in March is lower than in other EU countries. Neighbouring Spain, for example, saw over half of its youngsters out of a job in March with an unemployment rate of 53.9%. In Croatia, 49% of under-25s are unemployed.
The worst scenario can be found in Greece, where 56.8% of the country’s youth appear unable to find a job – the latest data available, however, refers to January this year.
On the other hand, the lowest unemployment rates among youngsters were observed in Germany (7.8%), Austria (9.5%) and the Netherlands (11.3%).
In the European Union and throughout the eurozone, youth unemployment is placed at 22.8% and 23.7% respectively, while overall unemployment stands at 10.5% and 11.8% respectively.
In Portugal, overall unemployment has remained at 15.2% in the first quarter of the year. Greece and Spain registered the highest jobless rates in the EU with 26.7% and 25.3% respectively, while Austria, Germany and Luxembourg registered the lowest with 4.9%, 5.1% and 6.1% respectively.
