According to the report from National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), in October, the unemployment rate rose to 9.4% compared with 9.2% in September. Economists had expected a decrease to 9.1%. Meanwhile, the number of employed increased by 35 thousand or 0.2% compared to September. The employment rate increased by 0.1% to 58.6%.
The data also showed that in October, the inactivity rate fell by 0.2% compared to September, and amounted to 35.2%. As for age groups, the number of inactive people aged 15-64 years decreased the most - by 79 thousand or 0.6% compared to September.
Over the three-month period (from August to October), employment increased by 42 thousand or 0.2% compared to May-July. In addition, from August to October, the number of unemployed decreased by 49 thousand or 2.1% compared to the previous quarter, while the number of inactive people aged 15-64 years fell by 33 thousand or 0.2%.
Compared to October 2020, the number of employed increased by 390 thousand or 1.7%, and the employment rate increased by 1.2%.