Data from the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that in May the unemployment rate was 6.8% (the lowest value since September 2008), while the April figure was revised to 6.8% from 6.9%. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to be 6.9%. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed people largely stood at 1.753 million due to a growth among men and 25-34 year olds and a decrease among women and the remaining age groups.
ISTAT also stated that the number of employed people decreased by 17 thousand or 0.1% m/m. Employment growth 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%).
Over the past three months (through May), the number of employed people increased by 148 thousand or 0.6% compared to the previous three-month period (December 2023-February 2024). Meanwhile, the number of unemployed fell by 81 thousand or 4.4% compared to December 2023-February 2024.
The data also showed that in annual terms, the number of employed increased by 462 thousand or 2.0% in May, while the employment rate rose by 0.9%. 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).