The labour input, as measured by hours worked, increased by 0.8% compared to the previous quarter and increased by 2.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. In the same period GDP increased by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter and by 0.6% year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter 2023, the number of employed people increased by 144 thousand units (+0.6% compared to the third quarter of 2023), following the growth of permanent employees (+145 thousand, +0.9%) and the substantial stability of temporary and independent employees; the number of unemployed decreases (-36 thousand, -1.8% in three months) as does the number of inactive people aged 15-64 (-102 thousand, -0.8%). The rates show a similar trend: the employment rate rises to 61.9% (+0.4 percentage points), the unemployment rate falls to 7.4% (-0.2 percentage points), and the inactivity rate for people aged 15-64 falls to 33.1% (-0.3 percentage points). In the provisional data for the month of Jenuary 2024, compared to the previous month, the decrease in the number of employed people (-34 thousand, -0.1%) and in the employment rate (-0.1 percentage points) is associated with the stability the unemployment rate and with a growth of the inactivity rate (+0.2 percentage points).
In the fourth quarter 2023, employment also increases compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 (+533 thousand, +2.3% in one year), involving permanent employees (+3.3%) and self-employed (+1.3%), while the number of temporary employees decreases (-1.4%); the number of unemployed people continues to decrease (-65 thousand in one year, -3.2%) as well as the number of inactive individuals aged 15-64 (-496 thousand, -3.9%). This trend is reflected in the growth of the employment rate (+1.4 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2022) and the decrease in the unemployment and inactivity rates (-0.4 and -1.2 percentage points, respectively).
On the enterprise side, on a quarterly basis, total employee jobs continue to grow, recording an increase of 0.6% in total, as in the full-time and part-time components. On a annual basis a significant growth of total employee jobs is also confirmed in this quarter, equal to 3% in total, slightly higher for the full-time component (+3.1%) compared to part-time (+2.6%). The hours worked per employee show a increase on both a quarterly basis (+0.6%) and annual basis (+1.6%). The use of short-time working allowances slightly increases to 8.3 hours per 1,000 hours worked (+0.3 hours per 1,000 hours worked with respect to the fourth quarter 2022). The job vacancy rate rises (+0,1 percentage points) compared to previous quarter while remains unchanged with respect to the same quarter of the previous year. The total labour cost compared to the previous quarter, rises to 0.7%, as a result of the growth in wages (+0.6%) and, to a greater extent, in social security contributions (+1.2%); compared to the same quarter of 2022, labour cost increases more intensely, with a growth of 3.4%, slightly lower in the wage component (+3.3%) than in social contributions (+3.6%).
In the average of 2023 the increase in the number of employed (+481 thousand, +2.1%) is associated with a reduction in the number of unemployed (-81 thousand, -4.0%) and in the number of inactive people aged 15-64 (-468 thousand, 3.6%). The employment rate of 15-64 year old rises to 61.5% (+1.3 percentage points in one year), the unemployment rate falls to 7.7% (-0.4 percentage points) and the inactivity rate of 15-64 year to 33.3% (-1.1 points).This evidence is also confirmed by the dynamics of labour input variables: the growth of jobs (+2.9%) and of total hours worked (4.9%), as well as the decrease in the use of short-time working allowance hours (-1.6 each 1,000 hours worked).
This is the last release of the indicators on labor demand in base year 2015=100. Starting from next release, in June 2024, these indicators will be released with 2021 as reference base year.