LISBON: Portugal’s unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent in the second quarter, sharply lower than 10.1 percent in the previous quarter and down from 10.8 percent in the same period a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday.
The National Statistics Institute said the number of unemployed stood at 461,400 in the second quarter, down from 523,900 in the preceding three months, while the total workforce rose to 5.222 million from 5.182 million.
The number of unemployed in the second quarter of 2016 was 559,300.
The share of unemployed young people fell to 22.7 percent in the second quarter from 25.1 percent in the previous three-month period and from 26.9 percent a year earlier.
The economy grew 1.4 percent last year in its third year of expansion after the worst recession in decades. Growth has accelerated this year, fueling job creation, and consumer confidence has risen to the highest since at least 1997.
The Bank of Portugal has predicted that growth will rise to 2.5 percent this year.
