In the first quarter of 2020

Estimated unemployment rate was 5.6%

The Labour Force Survey results for the first quarter of 2020 indicate that the unemployment rate for the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM) was estimated at 5.6%. This value decreased by 1.4 percentage points (p.p.) when compared with the same quarter of 2019 and with the previous quarter. This is the lowest value since the beginning of the series (1^st quarter 2011).

This result reflects a weak impact on the labour market of the strict measures taken by the Government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic which can be explained by the fact of these measures have only covered two of the 13 weeks of the quarter. Thus, their effects were diluted and not yet evident. Besides, persons previously classified as unemployed and those that actually lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that in normal circumstances would be considered as unemployed, may now be classified as inactive due to restrictions on mobility, reduction or even interruption of the normal channels of information on job vacancies as a result of the partial or even total closure of a very significant proportion of enterprises, reasons for which they have not actively search for a job. Also, the non-availability to start working in the reference week or in the two following weeks, if they had found a job, because they had to take care of children or other dependents or because they fell ill due to the pandemic, leads those persons to be now part of the inactive population.

The estimate of the unemployed population in the A.R. Madeira stood at 7.6 thousand persons, having recorded a quarterly decrease of 20.5% and a year-on-year decline of 21.9%. Given what was been mentioned above, it is important to highlight that the inactive population went up by 2.1 thousand persons from the 4^th quarter 2019 (+1.8%) and grew by 2.9 thousand persons if compared to the same quarter of the previous year (+2.5%).

The employed population was estimated at 129.2 thousand persons, representing a quarterly increase of 0.9%, remaining almost unchanged year-on-year.

The unemployment rate for Portugal stood at 6.7%, the same as in the previous quarter and down by 0.1 p.p. year-on-year.

Madeira registered the lowest unemployment rate of all the seven NUTS2 regions. Alentejo (6,4%) and Centro (6,0%) also had an unemployment rate below the national average. In the remaining four regions  - Algarve (7,5%), R.A. Açores (7,2%), Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (7,0%) and Norte (6,8%) – this indicator stood above the value for Portugal.

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