Istat, +41 thousand employed in February. Unemployment rate at 7.5%.
In one month there are 142,000 more permanent workers. Employment, however, grew only among men and the over 25s. Down the inactive, bad the self-employed.
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After the slowdown in January (-40 thousand employed), in February, ISTAT has just announced, with provisional data, the labour market marks a new growth in employment: +41 thousand units. The result is the result of a real boom in stable hirings, which rose by a good 142 thousand units in a single month. By contrast, fixed-term contracts dropped by 76 thousand. Self-employed workers also fell, -26 thousand. Permanent employees reached 15,969 thousand. Employment, overall, grew only for men (+54 thousand units), while for women there was a negative sign (-13 thousand units). Looking at age, employment rises for the over-25s. The overall employment rate reaches 61.9% (+0.1 points), thus reaching a new peak.
In one year +603 thousand permanent workers
Looking at the year as a whole, the total number of employed persons in February 2024 exceeded that of February 2023, by 1.5% or +351,000. The increase involves men, women and all age groups, with the exception of 15-24 year olds among whom employment is declining. The employment rate rose in one year by 0.8 percentage points. New employment is all permanent, in one year permanent workers increased by 603,000. Temporary workers are down by 200 thousand, self-employed workers are down by 53 thousand.
Compared to February 2023, both the number of job seekers (-3.2%, or -63 thousand) and the number of inactive persons between 15 and 64 years of age (-1.9%, or -239 thousand) are falling.
Unemployed rise, inactive fall
On the other hand, Istat's provisional data for the month record an increase in the number of people looking for work (+2.5%, equal to +46 thousand); a growth that affects both genders and all age groups. The total unemployment rate thus rises to 7.5% (+0.2 points), the youth unemployment rate to 22.8% (+0.7 points). The increase in the number of unemployed persons is linked to the decrease in the number of inactive persons (-0.5%, equal to -65,000, between 15 and 64 years of age), which again is observed for both men and women and for all age groups (with the exception of 15-24 year olds among whom inactivity is increasing). In short, there are more people active in the search for employment. The inactivity rate drops to 33.0% (-0.2 points).
Comparing the quarter December 2023-February 2024 with the previous quarter (September-November 2023), there is an increase in the employment level of 0.3%, for a total of 65 thousand employed.The growth in employment, observed in the quarterly comparison, is associated with a decrease in the number of jobseekers (-3.3%, or -65 thousand) and an increase in the number of inactive persons (+0.3%, or +41 thousand).
