Although unemployment in Portugal in July did not fluctuate significantly compared to the previous month (329.9 thousand people), the number of young people who were simultaneously unemployed increased by 28.4% year-on-year. rising from 58.3 thousand to 74.9 thousand, that is, an increase of 16.6 thousand persons in one year, according to preliminary data released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The deterioration of this situation is not limited to the comparison with 2022. If we look at the tables of the statistics office, it is striking that since the end of June – which had even shown a monthly decrease of 1.6% or 1.2 thousand people – compared to May, up to 71.4 thousand young people – there was a 4.9% increase in the total number of unemployed between 16 and 24 years old, which in absolute terms reflects an increase of 3.5 thousand.
Given that the total unemployed population in the seventh month of the year (seasonally adjusted) amounts to 329.9 thousand people, young people assume a weight of 22.7% in the bill. This ratio, which takes into account the share of young people in the unemployed universe, has also increased compared to July last year, when there were 310,000 people unemployed: there are now 3.9 percentage points more, compared to 18.8% registered in that period. .
In terms of youth unemployment, INE estimates it stood at 19.2%, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous month and 1.5 percentage points from the homologous 17.7%.
330 thousand without a job, but more proactive
In July, the unemployment rate stabilized at 6.3%, unchanged from the previous month – which, translated in absolute numbers, means that 3,400 people have been unemployed since the end of June 2023. However, the same percentage was 0.3 percentage points above the figure verified in the same period last year, accounting for more than 19.9 thousand unemployed.
Data from the National Institute of Statistics shows that unemployment has decreased for both women and men, but the female gender still accounts for the largest share of the total unemployed population: 173.5 thousand versus 156.4 thousand on the male side. By age group, as already mentioned, unemployment among young people has increased, while among adults (aged 25 to 74) it has decreased.
In terms of underutilization of work – which includes the unemployed population, the underemployment of part-time workers, the inactive who are looking for a job but not available and the inactive who are available but not looking for a job – it increased by 1.6 %, or 10.2 thousand. people, as of a year ago, a total of 629.6 thousand individuals. Compared to June last year, there was a decrease of 6.3 thousand persons (-0.9%).
Still in the annual comparison of this indicator, it is worth highlighting a greater proactivity in the unemployed universe, as the number of inactive people not looking for a job fell by about 12% compared to July of the previous year , from 127.4 thousand to 112 thousand people, ie a reduction of the order of 15.4 thousand people.
On the other hand, and regarding the total number of employees in Portugal, the statistics office revealed that there were about 4932.7 thousand citizens employed in the seventh month of the year, reflecting a decrease of 2.7 thousand. compared to the previous month, but an increase of 62.7 thousand people compared to July 2022.
Mariana Coelho Dias is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
