The occupational class of “legislative and executive representatives, directors, directors and executive managers” achieved the highest average net salary increase in 2022 (9.6%) and also in the fourth quarter of the year (6.5%).
Taking into account last year’s estimated inflation of 7.8%, this means that the ruling class (the richest in salary terms, with an average net monthly income of 1759 euros per month, in 2022) will also have been the only ones managed to overcome the violent impact of inflation and gain purchasing power last year, despite the serious crisis that befell the Portuguese economy.
All other occupational classes in the INE classification (large occupational groups) saw average net wages rise below the aforementioned official inflation calculated by the institute in mid-January.
The group that contains some of the most qualified professionals in the country (specialists in intellectual and scientific activities, including doctors, teachers, researchers, etc.) achieved a salary increase of only 1% in 2022.
It is about ten times less than the increase obtained by top executives. Here the loss of purchasing power was very significant, as can be deduced.
The average salary of these “specialists” is the second highest in INE’s classification and was around 1400 euros net last year.
Average take-home pay is “income net of income tax, mandatory employee social security contributions, and employer social security contributions,” says INE.
The calculations come from Dinheiro Vivo (DV) based on the official figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), released yesterday as part of the employment survey for the fourth quarter and the end of 2022.
The INE balance sheet also shows that due to the wage squeeze in most occupations (except for bosses), average net income increased by 2.7% in 2022 (compared to 2021) and only by 0.8% in the fourth quarter of the past year.
This year-on-year increase of 0.8% is the weakest since the first quarter of 2014, when Portugal was still under the adjustment and austerity program of the PSD-CDS government and troika. In the first three months of 2014, net salaries decreased by 0.7% year-on-year.
At the end of the year, the occupational group most affected by the loss of purchasing power was undeniably “farmers and skilled workers in agriculture, fisheries and forestry”. They lost an average of 4.9% of their net monthly salary. In addition, they had to deal with extremely high inflation of almost 10%.
Crisis puts pressure on the labor market
In the last quarter of last year, employment in Portugal undercut the recovery trend recorded in early 2021 and the unemployment rate made its biggest jump since mid-2020, when the country first began to lack definitions of the pandemic. he indicated, also the INE, this Wednesday.
For now, the Portuguese economy has avoided recession, but the slowdown in activity is notorious and investor confidence seems to be waning, contributing to the delay or halt of several businesses and investments and halting the creation of new jobs .
According to INE’s new quarterly employment survey, the employed population fell to a total of 4.9 million people in Q4 2022 between Q3 and Q4.
This broke the trend of job recovery that started in early 2021, following the several initial containments of the pandemic that crippled most businesses’ activity and people’s mobility.
On an annual basis, employment still manages to register a small increase — about “0.5% (23.9 thousand) — compared to the last quarter of 2021.
Unemployment rises almost 4%
“The unemployed population, estimated at 342.7 thousand people, increased by 12.1% (36.9 thousand) from the previous quarter and by 3.7% (12.1 thousand) from the same period,” says INE.
And the unemployment rate was estimated at 6.5% of the active population, “a figure that is 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than that of the 3rd quarter of 2022 and 0.2 pp higher than that of the 4th quarter of 2021 .”
Both indicators (absolute unemployment and percentage) experienced the largest increase since mid-2020, according to the institute.
Youth unemployment rises for second consecutive quarter
Youth unemployment has risen again (it had already worsened in the third quarter), but is still below end-2021 values.
Youth unemployment (16 to 24 years old) was estimated at 19.9% of the population [nessa faixa etária]a figure 1.1 pp higher than the previous quarter and 3.5 pp lower than the same quarter,” says INE.
In any case, Portuguese youth unemployment remains much higher than the European average.
In the third quarter, a period for which there are comparable values between Member States, this unemployment rate in the European Union of 27 countries was “estimated at 15.3%”, i.e. 3.5 pp less than in Portugal, which reached 18 .8% in that quarter, making it “the 10th highest rate in the EU-27,” according to the institute.
Returning to the analysis of the Portuguese situation in the last part of 2022 compared to the last quarter of 2021, INE explains that unemployment has worsened, mainly due to the increase in the number of women out of work and people aged 35 up to 44 years.
93,000 looking for work for more than two years
Very long-term unemployment is on the rise, showing that many unemployed people have fallen into the unemployment trap and can hardly get out of it.
The weight increased brutally: 7.9 pp more compared to the same quarter of 2021.
For example, the number of unemployed who have been looking for work for more than two years has deteriorated from 90.6 thousand to 93.5 thousand, according to INE.
Unemployment is increasing more in Lisbon, North and Madeira
The national unemployment rate rose to 6.5% of the total active population, but the situation worsened especially in the Greater Lisbon region, in the northern region and on Madeira, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) reports. The Azores, on the other hand, bucked this trend and recorded a notable drop in the weight of the unemployed.
“In the homologous comparison, the increase of 0.9 percentage points (pp) in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, the observed maintenance in the Alentejo and the decrease of 2.7 percentage points in the Autonomous Region of the Azores stand out,” says INE.
Between the third and fourth quarters, “unemployment rates rose in five regions”, with a focus on the Algarve (1.9 pp more), after the end of the summer season, “they remained unchanged in the Lisbon metropolitan area and decreased in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (0.5 pp)”.
“In the 4th quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was higher than the national average in three regions of the country. In Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (rate of 7.6%), in Região Autónoma da Madeira (6.9%) and in the north (6.8%).
Luís Reis Ribeiro is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
