Istat, 24.3 million employed in May, new record since 2004
The Statistical Office published a provisional estimate of employment and unemployment trends in May: unemployment rate rises to 6.5 per cent
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In May 2025, the number of employed persons, at 24 million 301 thousand, was up from the previous month. Permanent employees (16 million 420 thousand) and the self-employed (5 million 223 thousand) are on the rise, while the number of fixed-term employees (2 million 659 thousand) is falling. This is what ISTAT reports in its preliminary estimate of the employed and unemployed for May 2025.
Employment grew compared to May 2024 (+408 thousand employed), as a synthesis of the increase in permanent employees (+388 thousand) and the self-employed (+175 thousand) and the decrease in temporary employees (-155 thousand). On a monthly basis, the employment and unemployment rates rose, to 62.9% and 6.5% respectively, while the inactivity rate dropped to 32.6%.
The ISTAT survey shows that the 24.3 million workers employed in May is a record number since the beginning of the time series (2004) and almost 1.3 million more than before the pandemic (January 2020).
Increasing number of jobseekers
Compared to May 2024, the number of jobseekers increased (+0.9%, or +15 thousand) and the number of inactive persons aged 15-64 decreased (-2.6%, or -320 thousand).
Unemployment rate rises to 6.5%
.The growth in the number of jobseekers (+7.1% or +113,000) concerns both gender components and is spread across all age groups. The unemployment rate rose to 6.5% (+0.4 points), the youth unemployment rate to 21.6% (+1.7 points).
