The government views the increase in the working population in the second quarter of 2021 to pre-pandemic levels as a “sign of economic vitality”. In a video released on Wednesday, Reacting to INE’s numbersThe Minister of Economy, Pedro Sisa Vieira, considered that “the results are impressive”.
The minister notes that “the number of workers in Portugal is a historical maximum and has even exceeded the values of the second quarter of 2019”. “Currently, 4,810,000 people work in Portugal. The number of people is 128,000 more than the previous quarter,” notes Siza Vieira.
He notes that “the service sector, which is the sector most affected by the epidemic, has created more than 100,000 job opportunities by itself, of which 25,000 are in the accommodation, catering and the like sectors.” For the minister, “the ability to create jobs is a sign of the economy’s vitality.”
He concludes in the record that “new businesses and businesses that grow or resume are those that hire people because they know they will have customers who may need their services.”
The National Institute of Statistics revealed on Wednesday that in the second quarter of this year, there were 36.3 thousand people (more than 0.8%) employed compared to the same three months of 2019. Compared to the second quarter of 2020, the number of working population increased by 4.5% (or 208.9 A).
The unemployment rate was 6.7%. The number of unemployed people, estimated at 345.7 thousand, decreased by 0.4% compared to the first quarter, but increased by 24.2% compared to the second quarter of 2020.
