Employment growth at a record level for 5 years and youth unemployment on the rise. These are the two faces of the labor market photographed by Istat in April. And although they may appear contradictory, both indicate that the labor market has got back on track: even the increase in the unemployed, i.e. those who have lost their job but are looking for it, has a positive impact when compared with the decrease in inactive, of those who don't have work or are looking for it because they study or because they think it is useless to do so. The dynamic, in essence, has restarted.
After the increase recorded in March (+0,3%), the estimate of employed in April rises by 0,2% with 51 more people employed. The increase concerns both employees (+35 permanent employees, stable for fixed-term employees) and independent employees (+16). Employment growth involves men and women and concerns all age groups with the exception of 35-49 year olds. The employment rate, equal to 56,9%, increased by 0,2 percentage points on the previous month: this is the highest level since April 2011.
After the drop in March (-1,7%), the estimate of unemployed in April rises by 1,7% (+50 thousand), returning to the February level. The increase is attributable to women (+4,2%), while a slight decrease was recorded for men (-0,4%). The unemployment rate climbs back to 11,7%, an increase of 0,1 percentage points over March. Istat communicates it.
If this is the monthly data, every year, adds Istat, the trend towards an increase in the number of employed people is confirmed (+1%, equal to +215 thousand). The growth is attributable to permanent employees (+1,9%, +279 permanent employees), while temporary and independent employees are down. In the same period, the unemployed (-3%, equal to -93 thousand) and the inactive (-2,1%, equal to -292 thousand) decreased
Finally, in the period February-April the employed increased (+0,2%, equal to +35 thousand) compared to the previous three months. The only component to show a cyclical decline is that of temporary employees (-0,6%, equal to -14 thousand).
A consistent growth in labor market participation can be observed in April, underlines the Istat, determined by the simultaneous increase in employed and unemployed (who have lost work but are looking for it) and a corresponding sharp drop in inactive people between the ages of 15 and 64 (-0,8%, equal to -113 thousand) . The decrease concerns men and women and is distributed among all age groups. The inactivity rate drops to 35,4% (-0,3 percentage points). In the February-April quarter, the increase in employed persons (+0,2%, equal to +35 thousand) is associated with a decrease in the unemployed (-0,2%, equal to -5 thousand) and the inactive (-0,6, 78%, equal to -XNUMX thousand).
The youth unemployment rate rises in April, by 0,2 percentage points to 36,9%. The incidence of unemployed young people aged between 15 and 24 out of the total number of young people is 9,8% (that is, less than one young person out of 10 is unemployed), up by 0,2 percentage points compared to March. In the last month, even among 15-24 year olds, the employment rate grew by 0,2 percentage points, while the inactivity rate decreased by 0,4 points. Inactive young people are excluded from the calculation of the unemployment rate, i.e. those who are not employed and are not looking for work, in most cases because they are studying.
