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The labour underutilisation rate stood at 14.1% and the unemployment rate at 7.1%
Employment statistics
The labour underutilisation rate stood at 14.1% and the unemployment rate at 7.1% - 1st Quarter 2021
12 May 2021

Summary

The employed population (4,681.6 thousand people) has decreased by 1.0% (49.0 thousand) from the previous quarter and by 1.3% (62.6 thousand) from the year before.
The employed population absent from work in the reference week has increased by 49.8% (211.3 thousand) from the previous quarter and by 40.5% (183.2 thousand) from the 1st quarter of 2020. “Slack work for technical or economic reasons (it includes the contract temporary suspension and layoff)” was the main reason. As a consequence, the volume of hours actually worked has decreased by 6.4% from the previous quarter and by 7.9% from a year earlier. On average, each employed person has worked 32 hours per week.
On fifth of the employed population (20.7%; 967.7 thousand people) has worked always or almost always from home using information and communication technologies. In other words, they have worked remotely.
The unemployed population, estimated at 360.1 thousand people, has decreased by 3.5% (13.1 thousand) from the previous quarter and increased by 3.5% (12.0 thousand) from the 1st quarter of 2020.
The unemployment rate stood at 7.1%, down 0.2 percentage points (pp) from the previous quarter and up 0.3 pp from a year earlier.
The labour underutilisation covered 746.4 thousand people, remaining practically unchanged from the previous quarter and increasing by 7.8% (54.3 thousand) from a year before. In turn, the corresponding labour underutilisation rate stood at 14.1% and it has increased both from the previous quarter (0.1 pp) and from a year earlier (1.0 pp).
The inactive population aged 16 and over (3,752.9 thousand people) increased by 1.4% (50.8 thousand) from the previous quarter and by 1.5% (56.0 thousand) from the 1st quarter of 2020.
One year of COVID-19 pandemic in the Labour Market:
• Comparing the COVID-19 pandemic year (from the 2nd quarter of 2020 to the 1st quarter of 2021) with the one before, the employed population has decreased by 2.3% (109.7 thousand).
• However, the employed population absent from work in the reference week has increased by 59.4% (274.9 thousand).
• In addition, “slack work for technical or economic reasons (includes layoff)” has become the main reason for being absent from work.
• As a result of the increase in the employed population absent from work, the volume of hours actually worked has decreased by 12.1%.

See the Note on the data series started in 2021


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