PORTUGAL’S UNEMPLOYMENT rate continues to rise. In February alone, according to the Institute of Employment and Professional Training, 3,090 people lost their jobs – an average of 100 people a day – bringing the overall total to 467,540. Unemployment still affects more women than men (56.7 per cent), but the biggest increase in unemployment in February was recorded among men – more than 16.5 per cent compared to the same period last year and an increase of more than one per cent over the previous month.
Unemployed workers over the age of 25 registered a 15 per cent increase, from 341,602 in February last year to 392,783 in the same month this year. Meanwhile, youth unemployment registered a 5.4 per cent year on year increase, but decreased 0.2 per cent in monthly terms. The long-term unemployed (without work for a year or longer) accounted for 39.7 per cent of the statistics, an increase of 26.8 per cent on the previous year. The only region in Portugal that recorded a reduction in unemployment was the Azores, (28.6 per cent down) while the north of the country recorded the biggest jobless increase (20.4 per cent).
