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Employment hits decade's highest value
Employment hits decade's highest value
According to data released by INE
The data released on Wednesday by INE show that, in the second quarter of 2021, Portugal managed to reach the highest employed population since 2011, which shows the collective capacity to respond to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This effort has been made possible by a wide range of support provided by the government to ensure that employment is maintained. Employment support has covered more than 128 000 companies and 1 million workers and has already exceeded EUR 3 billion (including exemptions and reductions in contributions). Employment data show that the labour market has returned to pre-pandemic levels, reaching a total of 4.81 million people in employment, the highest figure in a decade. On the other hand, the unemployment rate, which stood at 6.7% (a drop of 0.4 percentage points compared to the first quarter), is higher than in the last full quarter before the pandemic (6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2019). Similarly, the unemployed population is now 345.7 thousand people, which is also lower than in the 4th quarter of 2019 (352 thousand people). The Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, said that "these figures show, once again, that the extraordinary support that was created to support companies and workers' incomes was fundamental to preserve employment during the crisis caused by the pandemic".
The Minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira, said that these are "impressive numbers", highlighting that "the services sector most affected by the pandemic has created, by itself, more than 100 thousand jobs", of which 25 thousand accommodation, catering and similar.
Siza Vieira, in a recorded video, added that these figures are "a sign of the vitality of the economy".
Source: Government Portal