Rise in Portugal’s unemployment slows, but jobless figure up 37% on year ago

The number of people registered as unemployed in Portugal edged up 0.2% in July from the previous month, but was 37% higher year-on-year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute of Employment and Professional Training said.

The figures showed the increase in unemployment numbers has slowed sharply, from a sobering 14.1% month-on-month rise in April to 4.2% in May and 0.6% in June.

Still, the Algarve region, hardest hit by the crisis due to its heavy reliance on tourism, continues to suffer the highest levels of unemployment, with a 216.1% year-on-year increase in July compared to the same month last year.

Greater Lisbon, also missing its usual droves of visitors and struggling to repair its image after a persistently high infections tally across June and July, reported a year-on-year increase of 51.6%.

Data from the Institute of National Statistics showed around 180,000 jobs had disappeared since February, a month before a six-week long lockdown.