North-East has the highest employment rate in the Peninsula

According to the ISTAT survey on the labour force for the first half of 2024, the North-East is the most prosperous macro-division in the country, with an employment rate for the population aged between 15 and 64 equal to 70.3%, the highest in the peninsula (61.9% the national figure). Analysing the data by individual region, we can see the pervasiveness of the positive employment trend in the North-East, with Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in first place in Italy (72.4%), Veneto in third position (70.0%) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in fourth (69.5%). Also with regard to female employment, in the period under consideration, the North-Eastern areas analysed stand out from the rest of Italy, achieving a much higher employment rate than the Italian average (62.8% against 53.1%) and the other macro-divisions. Another indicator, the inactivity rate, which indicates the percentage of the working-age population not actively looking for work, further highlights the robustness of the labour market, with a value of 27.0%, lower than the national average (33.0%).Taking into consideration the annual variations, however, a comparison of the data for the second quarter of 2023 with those for 2024 shows how the number of employed people aged 15-64 has decreased over time, albeit slightly (-0.2%). The result appears particularly negative in light of the trend in the other macro-divisions, which are growing. To complete the picture on labour market conditions, the Excelsior Information System of Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies offers significant data on the new staff placements expected by companies during the year. On this front, the North-Eastern areas examined stand out for a high number of entries expected in the first ten months of 2024. There are, in fact, 14.8 planned entries in the macro-division for every 100 workers aged 15 - 64 (12.6 national average). The data recorded in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, first in Italy with 18.8 entries, and in Veneto, fifth, with 14.3 entries, stand out. The figure for Friuli-Venezia Giulia is also higher than the national average (13.0). Of these entries, almost a third are concentrated in industrial companies, which account for 31.2% of the total, which is higher than the national average (28.4%). The entries for professional figures of executives, specialists and technicians, on the other hand, stop at 15.9%, the lowest figure among all the divisions (18.9% the national average). Going down to the territorial level, the provinces with the highest number of expected entries, in relation to the population, are Bolzano/Bozen (19.9), Trento (17.7), Verona (16.3), Belluno (15.9) and Gorizia (15.8). With reference to the percentage incidence of entries in the industrial sector, the provinces of Pordenone (48.5%), Vicenza (45.9%), Treviso (44.7%) and Rovigo (42.0%) stand out.