Overall Italian employment in the second quarter grew strongly compared to the previous quarter (+0,8%, 189 thousand units), with a positive dynamic which, with varying intensity, regards all types: permanent employees (+0,3%), temporary employees (+3,2%) and self-employed (+1,2%) . Istat writes it in its latest note on the labor market.
At the territorial level, the increase is greater in the Noon (+1,4%) compared to Centro (+0,8%) and others North part (+0,6%). The employment rate rises by 0,5 points, above all for i 15-34 years old (+0,8 points) and for i 50-64 years old (+0,6 points). The most recent trends, measured by the monthly data relating to July 2016 show, net of seasonality, an interruption of the positive trend recorded in the previous four months, with a drop in employees concentrated in the independent component, against a substantial stability of employees .
Every year, an overall growth of 439 thousand employed. A significant aspect of the employment expansion is given by the significant growth of employed young people aged 15-34 (+223 thousand on an annual basis) which accompanies the continuing increase in the over 50s. The growth is more marked for employees, both temporary permanent (+308) and fixed-term (+72), but self-employment also returns to interest, exclusively among the self-employed without employees. The increase is substantial for both full-time and part-time work, especially voluntary work. The growth is also significant for the female component (+180 thousand) concentrated above all in the north of the country.
It continues at a faster pace the decline, both cyclical and tendential, of the inactive (in absolute terms and incidence), above all for the discouraged component. The unemployment rate, after the cyclical stability of the two previous quarters, decreased slightly (-0,1 points) compared to the previous quarter and by 0,6 points compared to the same quarter of 2015 with a trend decrease of 109 thousand unemployed. The greater participation of young people in the labor market is also evidenced by tendential decrease (-252 thousand) of the component of people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).
Changes in employment stocks imply significant changes in the condition of people in the labor market, measured by data flows twelve months later. Among the employed, transitions to permanent employment are increasing, especially for temporary employees and collaborators. Furthermore, the flow from unemployment to employment, especially to employees, is growing. The increase in transitions from unemployment to employment mainly concerns men, young people aged 25-34, residents in the North and graduates.
On the business side, the signs of growth in the demand for labor are confirmed, but to a lesser extent, with a less marked increase, compared to the previous quarter, both in employee positions and in hours worked per employee; moreover, recourse to layoffs continues to decrease. The increase in job positions is a synthesis of the stability of industry in the strict sense and of the increase in services; the vacancy rate decreased by 0,1 percentage points in cyclical terms while it was stable on an annual basis. As far as labor costs are concerned, the decrease in social security contributions eased (-0,1%), as an effect of the reduction in contributions associated with new permanent hires.
