The first month of 2022 was synonymous with an alleviation of unemployment both in the Eurozone and in the European Union (EU), indicates data released by Eurostat. In Portugal, this rate rose compared to the previous month, thus contradicting the trend of the community bloc.

According to the note published by the European Statistics Office, in January 2022, the unemployment rate in the single currency area stood at 6.8%, 0.2 percentage points (pp) less than in December and less 1.5 pp from the same month of 2021.

In the European Union as a whole, the unemployment rate stood at 6.2%, 0.1 p.p. less than in the previous month and 1.3 p.p. less than in January 2021.

“Eurostat estimates that 13,346 million men and women in the European Union, of which 11,225 million in the Eurozone, were unemployed in January 2022. Compared to December 2021, the number of unemployed people fell by 216,000 in the EU and by 214,000 in the Eurozone. Compared to January 2021, unemployment fell by 2,555 million in the EU and 2,177 million in the Eurozone”, it is detailed.

Portugal situation

In Portugal, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), unemployment stood at 6% in January, 0.2 pp more than in December, but one percentage point less than in the same month of the previous year, 2021. This means that the rate remained below the EU average and in the single currency area, although it has registered, from a chain perspective, the opposite trajectory, that is, there has been a worsening here while in the EU and in the Euro there was an improvement.