Employment and unemployment (Provisional data) – May 2024

In May 2024 the number employed people slightly declined, while inactive persons rose and unemployed ones remained stable.

On a monthly basis, the decrease in employment (-0.1%, -17 thousand) affected men and people in the  15-24 and 50+ age groups, while it increased for women and the middle age groups. Overall, the employment rate fell to 62.2% (-0.1 p.p.).

In the last month, the number of unemployed persons was stable due to a growth among men and 25-34 year olds and a decrease among women and the remaining age groups. The unemployment rate also remained unchanged at 6.8%, while the youth rate climbed to 20.5% (+0.1 p.p.).

In May, the number of inactive people aged 15 to 64 increased (+0.3%, +34 thousand) for men and women and for the age groups 15-24 and 50+, while it decreased for those aged 25-34 and remained stable for those aged 35-49. The inactivity rate grew to 33.1% (+0.1 p.p.).

In the period March-May 2024, with respect to the previous quarter (December 2023-February 2024), employment increased (+0.6, +148 thousand).

On a quarterly basis, a drop was registered in the number of unemployed persons (-4.4%, -81 thousand) while the number of inactive people aged 15-64 years grew (+0.2%, +18 thousand).

Compared with May 2023, the number of employed persons rose by 2.0% (+462 thousand) and the growth concerned both genders and all age groups; the employment rate showed an increase of 0.9 p.p. .

On a yearly basis, the rise of employed people was accompanied by a fall of both unemployed people           (-11.3%, -224 thousand) and inactive persons aged 15-64 (-0.8%, -102 thousand).