Italy Oct jobless rate rises to 7.8%, despite 27,000 jobs created

Nov 30 (Reuters) – Italy’s unemployment rate rose to 7.8% in October from an upwardly revised 7.6% the month before, data showed on Thursday, even though some 27,000 jobs were created, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported.

A Reuters survey of seven analysts had forecast an October jobless rate of 7.5%.

September’s rate was revised up from a previously reported 7.4%.

In the three months to October employment was up by 104,000, or 0.4%, compared with the May-to-July period. Compared with October 2022, employment was up by 458,000 or 2.0%, ISTAT said.

In October, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, rose to 24.7% from an upwardly revised 23.2% the month before. The September rate was previously given as 21.9%.

Italy’s overall employment rate, one of the lowest in the euro zone, rose in October to 61.8% from 61.7%.

Italian gross domestic product (GDP) stagnated in the third quarter compared with the previous three months, according to ISTAT’s flash estimate last month, after contracting by 0.4% in the second quarter.

ISTAT said on Nov. 10 that economic activity is likely to weaken over the next few months.

The government in September trimmed its forecast for GDP growth this year to 0.8% from a previous 1% forecast made in April, and cut the outlook for 2024 to 1.2% from 1.5%.