Employment and unemployment (provisional estimates)

In May 2021 the number of employed persons increased, while a decline was recorded for both unemployed and inactive people.

On a monthly basis, the growth of employment (+0.2%, +36 thousand) involved men and under35, whereas a drop among women and over35 was registered. Overall, the employment rate went up to 57.2% (+0.1 p.p.).

In the last month, the drop of unemployed people (-1.4%, -36 thousand) concerned only women and all age classes except 25-34 years old. The unemployment rate declined to 10.5% (-0.1 p.p.) while the youth rate dropped to 31.7% (-1.1 p.p.).

In May the decrease of inactive people aged 15-64 (-0.2%, -30 thousand) was the result of a fall among men (-1.7%, -88 thousand) whereas inactive women increased (+0.7%, +58 thousand). The inactivity rate went down to 36.0% (-0.1 p.p.).

In the period March-May 2021, with respect to the previous quarter (December 2020-February 2021), the employment rose (+0.3%, +74 thousand) for both genders.

In the last three months, an increase was registered in the number of unemployed persons (+2.8%, +72 thousand) while inactive people aged 15-64 years decreased (-1.5%, -209 thousand).

Compared with May 2020, employment decreased by 0.3% (-57 thousand), the decline concerning only women and people aged 35-49 years, whereas the employment rate showed an increase of 0.2 p.p. .

On a yearly basis, the drop of employed people was accompanied by a sharp increase of unemployed persons (+25.1%, +525 thousand) and a marked decline of inactive people aged 15-64 (-5.1%, -730 thousand).