Portugal's Unemployment Rate Holds at 5.6 Percent in September as Employment Slips for a Fourth Month

Portugal's unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in September, unchanged from August and 0.3 percentage points lower than in September 2025, according to provisional monthly estimates published on Thursday by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE, Statistics Portugal). The number of people in work fell again, however, for the fourth month in a row since May's record.

INE's press release puts the September rate at the lowest level since February 2002, a level it also reached in May and August. The labour underutilisation rate, a broader measure that adds part-time workers who want more hours and people who want a job but are not actively searching or not immediately available, was 9.6 percent: the same as in August, 0.2 percentage points higher than three months earlier and 0.4 percentage points lower than a year before.

Fewer people in work since May

INE estimates the employed population at 5,325,800 in September, 4,900 fewer than in August but 32,100 more than in September 2025. Employment peaked in May at 5,365,000, the highest figure since February 1998, and has fallen every month since. By our calculation from INE's table, September's figure is 39,200 below that peak.

The number of unemployed people fell to 313,000, down 5,000 on August and 16,300 on a year earlier. The rate held steady because the active population (people working or looking for work) also shrank, to 5,638,700, while the inactive population rose to 2,457,200, its fourth straight increase since May.

Other figures in the release for September:

• Young people: unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds was 19.1 percent, down from 19.9 percent in August but up from 18.5 percent in September 2025.
• Adults: the rate for those aged 25 to 74 was 4.6 percent for a third consecutive month, the lowest since April 2002.
• Women and men: women's unemployment rate was 6.1 percent and men's 5.0 percent, a gap of 1.1 percentage points. A year earlier the rates were 6.5 and 5.2 percent.

INE also finalised its August estimate. The rate now stands at 5.6 percent, not the 5.7 percent first published, and August employment was revised up by 6,700 people. Our 4 October report on the provisional August figures used the earlier numbers.

How to read the monthly estimate

The monthly figures come from INE's Labour Force Survey and cover people aged 16 to 74. Each month's figure is a three-month moving average centred on that month, so September covers August to October, and October interviews are not yet complete. The numbers are seasonally adjusted and provisional: INE revises them a month later, as it did with August. A move of 0.1 percentage points can disappear on revision. The quarterly survey, which showed a rate of 5.3 percent in the second quarter, uses a wider age range and figures that are not seasonally adjusted, so the two series do not match.

Both differ from the job centre register kept by the Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP, the public employment service), which counted 30,616 fewer registered unemployed than a year earlier in September: the register counts people signed up at job centres, while INE's survey counts everyone who is out of work, looking and available, registered or not.

INE says the monthly series will be revised on 4 March 2027 to reflect new population estimates. The October figures are due on 30 November.