Portugal Has 41,500 Fewer People in Work Than in May, but the Jobless Rate Stays at 5.7 Percent

Portugal had 41,500 fewer people in work in August than in May, according to the latest monthly estimates from the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, the National Statistics Institute). Over the same three months the unemployment rate barely moved: it stood at 5.7 percent in August, as it had since June. The difference is explained by people leaving the labour force altogether rather than joining the jobless count.

The figures, published on 30 September, are seasonally adjusted estimates from the Inquérito ao Emprego (Labour Force Survey) for people aged 16 to 74. The August numbers are provisional, because the three-month window behind them runs to September, for which INE had only partial data. They will be revised next month.

From a record to three months of decline

May was a high point. Employment reached 5,365,500 people that month, and the employment rate 66.5 percent, both the highest since the series began in February 1998. The active population, those working or looking for work, also peaked at 5,681,300.

Since then, employment has fallen every month: to 5,351,600 in June, 5,345,600 in July and 5,324,000 in August. The number of unemployed rose only from 315,800 to 324,600, an increase of 8,800. The inactive population, people neither working nor seeking work, grew by 50,400 to 2,443,000. In May it had been at its lowest level since 1998.

The fall is concentrated among men. Male employment dropped from 2,728,400 in May to 2,696,800 in August, a loss of 31,600, while female employment fell by 9,900. In July, the male unemployment rate had touched 4.9 percent, the lowest since February 1998; the provisional August estimate puts it at 5.2 percent. Women's unemployment was 6.3 percent.

Young people

Youth unemployment, for those aged 16 to 24, was 19.8 percent in August. That is down from 21.0 percent in July, but above the 18.9 percent of August 2025. The number of young people in work, 298,300, was about 12,000 lower than a year earlier.

The broader measure of slack, labour underutilisation, which adds to the unemployed those working part-time who want more hours and inactive people who would like to work, rose to 9.7 percent, covering 560,600 people. In June it had been 9.3 percent, the lowest since February 2011.

Still up on a year ago

The comparison with last summer remains positive. Employment in August was 46,900 higher than in August 2025, an increase of 0.9 percent, and there were 3,400 fewer unemployed people. The unemployment rate was 0.2 points lower than a year earlier.

INE does not say why employment has slipped since May, and a three-month movement in survey estimates can be revised away. The institute has also announced that the whole monthly series will be revised on 4 March 2027, when it moves onto new population estimates built from administrative data for 2021 to 2025.

The INE survey is separate from the register of jobseekers kept by the IEFP (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, the employment and training institute), which counts people signed on at job centres. In August that register grew by 4,623 people. For those who do lose a job, unemployment benefit now replaces a smaller share of the lost wage than it did a decade ago.

INE's next monthly release will revise the August figures and give a first estimate for September.