Unemployment in Portugal is down by the “highest percentage ever recorded”, while figures for employment are up on exactly the same basis.
Dinheiro Vivo website reports that while unemployment dropped by 16.5% in December, the economy “created 101.9000 jobs, also a record”.
The tallies were taken against comparative figures for the same time in 2015.
The uplifting news came in a new report from INE (the national statistics institute) and is still “provisory”, explains DV, though it points to the greatest descent in unemployment and greatest increase in employment since the institute’s records began in 1999.
The current level of unemployment in Portugal is now 11.2%, which, DV adds, is completely in line with calculations in the State Budget.
The government has wasted no time in reacting to the figures. Employment secretary Miguel Cabrita has written on the government’s official webpage: “We are going to end the year with around 100.000 more jobs in liquid terms, and with 100,000 less unemployed workers.
“The economy is creating employment and this is the most important motor with which to face the future with confidence that we can continue with good results”.
The good news also covers youth unemployment, which last year sat at over 30%. According to INE’s figures it was down in December to 26.4% which signifies a drop in numbers of 12.4%, says DV.
In real terms, this means that in December 2015 there were 110.1 thousand young people out of work, and in December last year, this number had dropped to 96.4 thousand.
