Employment and unemployment (provisional estimates)

In September 2018, the number of employed people declined (-0.1% over the previous month, -34 thousand), following the increase observed in the previous month. The monthly decrease of employment affected both women and men and people aged 25-49. The employment rate decreased to 58.8% (-0.1 percentage points).

After two months of decline, the number of unemployed people increased, involving women, men and all age groups (+3.2%, +81 thousand). The unemployment rate rose to 10.1% (+0.3 percentage points in a month) and the youth rate stood at 31.6% (+0.2 percentage points).

In September, inactive people aged 15-64 decreased among both genders, people aged 25-34 and 50-64 (-0.3%, -43 thousand). The inactivity rate declined to 34.5% (-0.1 percentage points).

The discontinuous trend of employment in the last few months resulted in a substantial stability in the third quarter over the previous one, as a result of an increase among men and a decrease among women. There was a widespread decrease among people under 49 years offset by the increase among the over 50.

In the third quarter, the stability of employment was accompanied by the significant fall of unemployment   (-6.5%, -180 thousand) and the increase of inactivity (+1.0%, +126 thousand).

In September employment rose by 0.9% (+207 thousand) compared with the same month of the previous year. The increase concerned both women and men. Employment grew sharply among people aged over 50 (+333 thousand), moderately among people under 34 (+27 thousand), while it decreased among people aged 35-49 (-154 thousand).

On a yearly basis, the growth of employment was accompanied by the sharp fall of unemployment (-9.9%,         -288 thousand) and the slight decline of inactivity (-0.1%, -19 thousand).