Overview
Italy's jobless rate moved higher in June, according to figures released by national statistics bureau ISTAT on Thursday. The unemployment rate stood at 5.7% in June, up from 5.3% in May. The May reading itself was revised upward from an earlier estimate of 5.0%.
The June outturn exceeded the median expectation of 5.1% from a poll of 10 analysts. ISTAT noted that the increase in the headline unemployment rate occurred as a greater number of people entered the labour market to seek employment, while the absolute count of employed people remained broadly stable during the month.
Youth and inactivity
Youth unemployment, defined as the rate for job-seekers aged 15 to 24, rose to 18.4% in June from 16.9% in May. The May youth unemployment figure was revised up from an initially reported 15.1%.
At the same time, the inactivity rate - the share of people who are neither employed nor actively seeking work - fell to 33.2% in June, down from 33.5% in May. ISTAT quantified that change as a decrease of 103,000 inactive people compared with the prior month.
Short-term trends in employment
Looking at the three-month span from April to June versus the January to March period, employment rose by 0.5%, which corresponds to an increase of 116,000 workers. On a year-on-year basis, employment was higher by 131,000 compared with June of the prior year, also representing a 0.5% increase.
Despite these movements in unemployment and labour market flows, Italy's employment rate remained unchanged at 62.9% in June, holding steady from May. The employment rate remains among the lowest in the euro zone, according to the data provided.
Data notes
The published series includes revised estimates for May and reflects contemporaneous changes in the counts of employed, unemployed and inactive persons as reported by ISTAT. The June unemployment figure exceeded the median forecast from a 10-analyst poll.