After the decline in February and March in the month of April the employed they increase by 0,7% (+159 thousand) compared to the previous month. This is the most striking data communicated by Istat in its monthly report on employed and unemployed in our country. Consequently, the employment rate that grew by 0,4 percentage points in the last month and reaches 56,1%. According to data held by the statistical institute, these are numbers that have not been seen since the end of 2012. In trend terms, employment increased by 1,2% while the employment rate by 0,7%.
Data improving also on the critical front of unemployment. unemployment rate it dropped by 0,2% compared to the previous month and also in comparison with the month of April of last year settling at 12,4%.
The data provided by Istat for the last quarter (February-April 2015) shows, compared to the previous three months, an increase in the employment rate (+0,1 percentage points), and a decrease in both the unemployment rate (-0,1 .0,1 points) and the inactivity rate (-XNUMX points).
Positive news also on the front ofyouth employment. The employment rate grew by 0,9% compared to the previous month and by 0,7% compared with April 2014. Data also improved on the employment front youth unemployment which recorded a decisive drop compared to the previous month (-1,6%) settling at 40,9%. The figure also drops in comparison with April 2014 (-2,4%).
Istat also provided data on the number of employed people in the first quarter of 2015, which increased by 133 units. compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Institute of Statistics reports that the increase regards both gender components and all territorial divisions, above all the North (71 units) and the South (47 units). The data relating to the growth of employed people over 50 (+5,3%) is singular, which contrasts with the decline in the number of employed people aged 15-34 and 35-49 (-1,7% and -1,4%, respectively).
The increase in employment affects both Italians (+50 units) and foreigners (+83 units). Compared to the first quarter of 2014, however, the employment rate of foreigners aged 15-64 decreased by 0,4 percentage points against a growth of 0,5 points among Italians.
The Prime Minister exults Matteo Renzi which attributes to the novelty of the Jobs Act the positive outcome on employment in April. The prime minister entrusts his considerations on the Istat data on employment to Twitter.
ISTAT data: we have 159 thousand more employed in April, the first full month of #jobsact. Full speed ahead on reforms: even more determined #the right time
- Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) June 3 2015
Cautious optimism for the Minister of Labor Giuliano Poletti who declared that "these are positive data that must be stabilized". The Minister of Labor wanted to underline that “we are at the tail end of a very serious crisis that lasted seven years. The signs we have are in a positive direction. Unemployment has decreased and more and more new jobs are open-ended. It's a good sign – he concluded – but it should be taken as a month-long figure”.
More or less on the same wavelength number one of Confindustria Giorgio Squinzi who, after acknowledging that the drop in unemployment is a positive sign, then added that "a little prudence is needed because all these data must then be confirmed over longer periods". For Squinzi "the jobs act alone does not restart the market". According to the president of the Italian industrialists "the real problem is to restart domestic consumption and to restart it - he concluded - I believe that it is even more important to decisively carry forward the reform program".
