Nearly 700,000 people were registered at job centres in Portugal in September, 2% more than in the same month last year and 0.3% more than August. Fixed-term employment and a lack of specialised jobs are to blame for the bleak scenario affecting those out of work.
According to the Institute for Employment and Professional Training (IEFP), at the end of September an extra 13,739 people were registered at Portugal’s job centres when compared to the same month in 2012 and 2,231 more than in August.
The unemployed represented 78.1% of the 892,403 people who were registered at job centres last month.
The rise in unemployment was general across Portugal, with the exception of the Algarve which recorded a 1.1% reduction in the number of those out of work, a situation that is likely to be related to the region’s offer of tourist-related summer jobs.
Fixed-term employment is largely to blame for the increasing numbers of people on the dole, affecting 42.6% of those unemployed, according to September data.
The IEFP revealed that school-leavers make up the second largest group of people without jobs, totalling 9,584 people or 12.5% of the jobless. In September, the number of unemployed school-leavers was up 31.8% on September 2012 and 40.9% on July this year. Work dismissals are pointed as the third cause of unemployment in Portugal.
According to the IEFP, those on the dole for more than one year were up 23.7% in September while the number of those registered at job centres for less than 12 months decreased by 11.6%.
Unemployment among those with academic skills increased 10.7% on the previous month while the group of jobless with low levels of educational attainment rose by 8.4%.
Meanwhile, in striking contrast, the number of job offers through the IEFP was nearly 20,000 at the end of September, up 62.1% on the same period in 2012 and 7.7% on August 2013.
According to the IEFP, most job vacancies can be found in the following sectors: real estate, retail, accommodation, restaurants, public administration, education, health and construction.
By the end of last month, 9,260 people had found a job through the employment centres, a rise of 49.3% on September 2012 and 27.5% on August.
Portugal’s unemployment rate stood at 16.5% in August, falling one percentage point on July.
