Data published by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) showed that in the second quarter the unemployment rate fell by 0.3% to 6.8% (the lowest value since the third quarter of 2008). Economists expected a decrease in unemployment to 7.1%. The number of unemployed fell by 84 thousand or 4.6% q/q, and the number of inactive people aged 15-64 increased by 32 thousand or 0.3% q/q. Meanwhile, the number of employed people increased by 124 thousand (+0.5% compared to the first quarter), which was due to an increase in the number of permanent workers (+141 thousand, +0.9%) and self-employed (+38 thousand, +0.7%). However, the number of temporary workers fell by 55 thousand or by 1.9% q/q. Overall, the employment rate increased by 0.2% q/q, to 62.2%.
Istat also stated that in July, the number of employed increased by 56 thousand or 0.2% compared to June, and the employment rate increased by 0.1%, which was due to a decrease in the unemployment rate (-0.4%) and the growth of the inactivity rate aged 15-64 (+0.2%).