Italy Achieves Historic Low Unemployment Rate of 5.7% in November: ISTAT

Rome, Jan 8 (NationPress) Italy's unemployment rate has decreased to a historic low of 5.7% in November, representing the lowest point ever documented since the historical data series began in 2004, as reported by the national statistics institute ISTAT.

The overall jobless rate saw a decline of 0.1% from October and a notable drop of 1.8% compared to November 2023.

The total number of unemployed individuals decreased by 24,000, bringing the total to 1,457,000, which is the lowest figure since April 2007, according to a report by the Xinhua news agency.

However, the report indicates a contrasting trend among younger workers, particularly in the short term. Youth unemployment, defined as individuals aged 15 to 24, rose to 19.2% in November, up from 17.8% in October, despite a 2.7% decline year-on-year.

In that same month, the average unemployment rate across the European Union was 5.9%, while the eurozone recorded a rate of 6.3%, according to Eurostat.

Earlier, in June of the previous year, employment in Italy reached 18.1 million, the highest level recorded since 1977, based on provisional data released by ISTAT.

In Italy, the employment rate in June increased by 0.2 percentage points to 60.1% compared to the previous month, marking a record value since 1977, with 86,000 additional individuals finding employment.

This increase included individuals from both genders and all age groups, with the exception of those aged 35-49, according to the institute.

Simultaneously, the number of unemployed and inactive individuals in Italy in June experienced a 0.2% decrease, particularly affecting women and people aged over 25.

On an annual basis, ISTAT reported that the number of employed individuals rose by 1.8% (approximately 400,000 people), and the employment rate increased by 1.6% compared to June 2021.