Labour market - Q3 2022

The labour input, as measured by hours worked, remains stable compared to the previous quarter and increases by 2.7% compared to the third quarter of 2021. In the same period GDP grows by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter and by 2.6% year-on-year.

The number of employed people, in the third quarter of 2022, decreases by 12 thousand units (-0.1%) compared to the previous quarter, due to the decrease in the number of temporary employees (-59 thousand, -1.9% in three months) not offset by the increase of the number of permanent employees (+34 thousand, +0.2%) and self-employed (+12 thousand, +0.2%); the number of unemployed people also decreases (-52 thousand, -2.6% in three mounths) while a slight increase is observed among the inactive people 15-64 aged (+30 thousand, +0.2%). Rates follow the same dynamic: in the quarter, the employment rate is stable at 60.2% while the unemployment rate decreasing by 0.2 percentage points and the inactive rate increasing by 0.1 percentage points.

Monthly seasonally adjusted provisional data referred to October 2022, compared to the previous month, point to an increase in the number of employed people (+82 thousand, +0.4 percentage points) and in the employment rate (+0.2 percentage points), a further decrease in unemployment (-8 thousand, -0,4 percentage points) and in inactive people 15-65 aged (-62 thousand, -0,5 percentage points), and relative rates (-0,1 e -0,2 percentage points, respectively).

In a year-over-year perspective the growth in employment (+247 thousand, 1.1% compared to the third quarter of 2021) involves both employees – permanent employees (+158 thousand, +1.1%) and temporary employees (+23 thousands, +0.7%) – and self-employed (+66 thousand, +1.4%). The number of unemployed people declines (-284 thousand in one year, -12.9%) accompanied by a reduction in the number of inactive people aged 15-64 years (-254 thousand, -1.9% in one year). The year-over-year growth in the employment rate (+1.1 percentage points by the third quarter of 2021) is associated with the decrease in unemployment and inactivity rates (-1.1 and -0.4 percentage points, respectively).

On the enterprise side, labor demand shows on a quarterly basis an increase in total employee jobs equal to 0.5%, deriving mainly from the full-time component (+0.6%) and slightly intensively, from the part-time (+0.3%). On an annual basis, total employee jobs continue to rise albeit at a slower dynamic compared to the previous period – settling at +3.8% – with a more marked increase in the full-time component (+4.5%) compared to the part-time (+2.1%). The hours worked per employee show a decrease on a quarterly basis (-0.4%) and an increase on annual basis (1.9%). The use of short-time working allowances fell to 6.7 hours per 1,000 hours worked. The job vacancy rate remains unchanged compared to the previous quarter while it slightly increases with respect to the third quarter 2021 (by 0.1 percentage points). Total labour cost remains unchanged compared to the previous quarter, as an effect of a slight increase in wages and salaries (+0.1%) and an opposite reduction in social security contributions (-0.1%) while on an annual basis, labour cost increased by 0.2%, due to the growth in wages and salaries (+0.3%) and the reduction in social security contributions (-0.2%).