In the first quarter of 2025
Unemployment rate in the Autonomous Region of Madeira was 6.7%
The results of the Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2025 indicate an unemployment rate in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM) of 6.7%, which represents an increase of 0.8 percentage points (pp) compared to the same quarter of the previous year and 1.0 pp compared to the previous quarter.
The active population amounted to 136.3 thousand persons, increasing by 0.6% compared to the first quarter of 2024 and rising by 2.8% compared to the previous quarter. Notably, this total represents a historic high for the active population.
The employed population stood at 127.2 thousand persons, having decreased by 0.1% year-on-year (-0.2 thousand persons) and increased by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter (+2.2 thousand persons). Of the employed population, 3.3 thousand were in part-time underemployment, 6.7 thousand had a secondary occupation, and 17.7 thousand worked from home (15.8% of employed women and 12.1% of employed men).
The estimate of the unemployed population, calculated at 9.1 thousand persons, increased by 12.6% compared to the same quarter of the previous year and by 19.2% compared to the previous quarter.
The inactive population, estimated at 124.2 thousand persons, increased by 2.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year and decreased by 1.0% compared to the previous quarter.
The activity rate of the working-age population (16 to 89 years) in the first quarter of 2025 was estimated at 60.6%, which is 0.9 pp lower than the same quarter of the previous year and 0.9 pp higher than the prior quarter. The activity rate for women was 57.0%, which is 7.8 p.p. lower than that of men (64.8%).
In the quarter under review, the unemployment rate in Portugal was 6.6%, which is 0.1 pp lower than the previous quarter and 0.2 pp lower than the same quarter of the previous year. The regions with the highest unemployment rates, above the national average, were Peninsula de Setúbal with 8.5%, Algarve with 8.1%, Grande Lisboa and Norte, both with 6.8%, and ARM with 6.7%. Conversely, the Centro region recorded the lowest rate, at 5.1%, followed by the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ARA) with 5.7%, Alentejo with 5.8%, and the Oeste e Vale do Tejo region with 5.9%.
The unemployment rate decreased quarterly in Centro (-0.7 pp), Grande Lisboa (-0.6 pp), the Oeste e Vale do Tejo region (-0.3 pp), and Norte (-0.1 pp). The largest quarterly increases were observed in Algarve, with an increase of 2.5 pp, followed by the ARM, with an increase of 1.0 pp.
Year-on-year, Centro recorded the largest decrease (-1.4 pp) compared to the unemployment rate of the first quarter of 2024. Decreases were also observed in the Oeste e Vale do Tejo region (-1.2 pp), the ARA (-1.0 pp), and Alentejo (-0.4 pp). In the other NUTS 2 regions, the trend was different, with increases in the ARM (+0.8 pp), Peninsula de Setúbal (+0.5 pp), Algarve (+0.3 pp), and Grande Lisboa (+0.2 pp). Norte, in turn, showed no year-on-year change.
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