Istat data, employment is still growing. And it’s the women who take the lead

On a monthly basis in Italy, in April, the employment rate rose to 61.0%, while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8%. The Istat detects it. “In April 2023, – adds the Institute of Statistics in a note – compared to the previous month, the increase in the employed is associated with the decrease in the unemployed and inactive”.

More than 48,000 employed per month, 390,000 per year

Istat reports that the unemployment rate drops to 7.8%, the lowest since June 2009 (with the exception of March-April 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, with the collapse of job seekers). The decline in the number of inactive people – between 15 and 64 years of age – is a synthesis of the decrease among women and those aged 50 or over and the increase among men and 15-49 year olds. The inactivity rate drops to 33.6% (-0.1 points). The unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group fell to 20.4%, with a reduction of 1.4 points on March and 4.4 percentage points on April 2022.

Women are driving employment

Employment grows thanks to women. “Compared with an overall increase of 48,000 units over March, there is a drop of 4,000 units among men and an increase of 52,000 units for women,” writes Istat. Even on an annual basis, women recorded the best result with 217,000 more employed against an increase of 173,000 among men. The female employment rate reached 52.3% in April with an increase of 0.3 points over March and a growth of 1.4 points over April 2022 (+0.6 points over the year for men).

Unemployed at 1 million 986 thousand

The unemployment rate in April fell to 7.8% with a reduction of 0.1 points compared to March and 0.4 points compared to April 2023. Istat then underlines that people looking for work fall below the two million mark and they are 1 million 986 thousand, down by 14 thousand units on March and by 72 thousand units on April 2023.