The Regional Director for Employment and Vocational Training stated that the employment data released today by the National Statistics Institute (INE) "confirm the favourable trend" of employment in the Azores in recent years.
"According to INE, the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the average annual rate stood at 8.6%," Paula Andrade said, noting that the data validate "the consolidation of the downward trend in the unemployment rate since 2013 and the growth of employment. "
The Regional Director also noted that the unemployment rate of 8.6%, considering the 2018 average, "is the lowest annual unemployment rate in the current Employment Survey series since the first quarter of 2011."
"It is also worth mentioning the continued decline in the unemployment rate since 2013, when it stood at 17.0%, i.e., it fell by almost half in five years," stressed the government official.
As for the number of unemployed, the INE data reveal that the average number of unemployed decreased in 2018 compared to the previous year, registering the lowest annual figure of the last eight years.
The Regional Director for Employment and Vocational Training also stressed that the data show a "sustained growth" of employment in the Azores. In addition to the increase of the working population, the data reveal that "the 2018 average stood at 111,800 workers, corresponding to the creation of 553 jobs in just a year, i.e., the highest annual figure since 2011."
Paula Andrade also mentioned the growth of employment in all sectors of activity.
Considering the INE data in terms of quarterly comparison, the unemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the previous quarter; it was 0.2 percentage points higher than the same quarter of last year.
In the last quarter, the unemployed population in the Region was estimated at 10,298 individuals, representing 506 fewer unemployed than in the previous quarter and 148 more than in the fourth quarter of 2017.