Employment and unemployment (provisional estimates) - February 2024

In February 2024 the number of both employed and unemployed people rose, while inactive persons fell.

On a monthly basis, the increase in employment (+0.2%, +41 thousand) affected men and people aged 25 and over, while employment decreased for women and those under 25. Overall, the employment rate climbed to 61.9% (+0.1 p.p.).

In the last month, the growth in the number of unemployed persons (+2.5%, +46 thousand) involved both men and women and all age groups. The unemployment rate grew to 7.5% (+0.2 p.p.), the youth rate to 22.8% (+0.7 p.p.).

In February, the drop in the number of inactive people aged 15 to 64 (-0.5%, -65 thousand) concerned both men and women and people aged 25 and over, while inactivity increased among the youngest. The inactivity rate fell to 33.0% (-0.2 p.p.).

In the period December 2023-February 2024, with respect to the previous quarter (September-November 2023), employment increased (+0.3%, +65 thousand).

On a quarterly basis, a drop was registered for unemployed persons (-3.3%, -65 thousand) while the number of inactive persons aged 15-64 years increased (+0.3%, +41 thousand).

Compared with February 2023, the number of employed persons rose by 1.5% (+351 thousand), the growth concerned both genders and all age groups except 15-24 years; the employment rate showed an increase of 0.8 p.p.

On a yearly basis, the rise of employed people was accompanied by a fall of both unemployed people (-3.2%, -63 thousand) and inactive persons aged 15-64 (-1.9%, -239 thousand).