Employment and unemployment (provisional estimates) - August 2023

In August 2023 the number of employed people grew, while unemployed fell and inactive persons remained substantially stable.

On a monthly basis, the increase of employment (+0.3%, +59 thousand) concerned both men and women, and people aged 25-34 and over50. Overall, the employment rate rose to 61.5% (+0.1 p.p.).

In the last month, the decrease in the number of unemployed persons (-3.2%, -62 thousand) involved both genders and all age groups. The unemployment rate fell to 7.3% (-0.2 p.p.), the youth rate declined to 22.0% (-0.1 p.p.).

In August, the number of inactive persons aged 15-64 remained essentially unchanged, with men and those aged under 50 increasing and women and those aged over 50 decreasing. The inactivity rate remained stable at 33.5% .

In the period June-August 2023, with respect to the previous quarter (March-May 2023), employment increased (+0.5%, +129 thousand).

In the last three months, a drop was registered for both unemployed persons (-4.2%, -81 thousand) and inactive people aged 15-64 years (-0.5%, -58 thousand).

Compared with August 2022, the number of employed persons rose by 2.3% (+523 thousand), the growth concerned both genders and all age groups except 35-49 years; the employment rate showed an increase of 1.4 p.p..

On a yearly basis, the rise of employed people was accompanied by a decrease of both unemployed (-9.1%, -185 thousand) and inactive persons aged 15-64 (-3.1%, -398 thousand).