Unemployment is at a standstill, but employment is pulling the brakes. This was communicated by Istat which released the data for the third quarter of 2016. Employment is slowing down after 5 consecutive quarters of growth: employed people decreased by 14.000 units (-0,1%) on the second quarter, while they grew by 239.0000 units on the same period of 2015. The economic decline is driven by self-employment (-80.000, -1,5%) while employees continue to grow (+66.000, +0,4%). The trend increase mainly concerns women (+189.000 in one year), and is concentrated exclusively among the over 50s.
The unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2016 remained stable at 11,6% on the second, while it increased by 0,4 points over the same period of 2015. The employment rate also remained stable at 57,3% ( +0,8 points over the third quarter of 2015) and the inactivity rate (35,1%). The inactivity rate decreased by 1,2 points compared to the third quarter of 2015. This was revealed by Istat, explaining that employment is equal, net of seasonal effects, to 22.775.000 units. The unemployed are 2.987.000.
