Italy’s jobless rate hits 17-year low

Italy's unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% in February, down from 6.2% in January, according to provisional data released by Istat.

The national statistics agency said this was the lowest level since the jobless rate was 5.8% in April 2007, CE Report quotes ANSA.

It said the number of unemployed people in Italy was 1.517 million, down 79,000 on January and 342,000 lower than in February 2024.

The agency said the unemployment rate for under-25s who are active on the labour market fell by 1.4 percentage points with respect to January to 16.9%.

Istat said the number of people in employment rose to 24.332 million in February, an increase of 47,000 on January and of 567,000 on February 2024.

It said the employment rate climbed to 63.0%, up 0.1 of a percentage point on January.

The agency added that inactivity rate rose to 32.9% in February, up 0.1 of a point.