According to the latest report issued by the Employment and Vocational Training Institute of the National Government, the number of unemployed registered at regional employment centres dropped again in April.

"The data reconfirms the constant and consistent reduction that has been registered," the Vice-President of the Government said, pointing out that "the number of registered unemployed is the lowest in the last 28 months."

Sérgio Ávila also stated that, "regarding the same months of the previous year, the number of unemployed has been decreasing every month since the beginning of this year, which reinforces the trend towards the structural reduction of unemployment in the Azores."

"In late April, according to the report of the Employment and Vocational Training Institute, there was less 11 percent of registered unemployed Azoreans than a year ago," said the government official.

Sérgio Ávila also noted that the "data released today show that the number registered unemployed in the Azores is  comparatively lower than the national average" and that "the Azores have been recording in this indicator a lower incidence of unemployment than the national average."

"This further reduction registered in April confirms a very positive development for job creation and reduction of unemployment, which had been recently revealed by the National Statistics Institute," said Vice-President of the Government. According to him, "the INE bulletin demonstrated that the Azores were the Portuguese region that registered the largest reduction in the unemployment rate and highest growth in employment in the last 12 months."

"We are, as we have always been, determined to make every effort to combat unemployment and promote active policies for the creation and maintenance of jobs. These figures, which are improving on a monthly basis, are a sign that we are on the right track, being also an additional incentive to continue following this path," said Sérgio Ávila.

According to the Vice-President, "the goal is to extend the solution found for those who were unemployed last year to all Azoreans who are still unemployed."