ROME, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Italy’s unemployment rate was stable at 5.6% in December but a net 20,000 jobs were lost during the month, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Friday.
A Reuters poll of eight analysts had forecast a December jobless rate at 5.8%.
The unemployment rate in November was revised down to 5.6% from an originally reported 5.7%.
In December, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, rose to 20.5% from 19.1% the previous month, upwardly revised from 18.8%.
So-called “inactive” people, neither working nor looking for work, rose by 31,000 in December from November, ISTAT said.
The employment rate, one of the lowest in the euro zone, was stable at 62.5% in December.
The statistics bureau gave the following data:
DEC NOV OCT
JOBLESS RATE 5.6 5.6r 5.8
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (15-24) 20.5 19.1r 19.9r
EMPLOYMENT RATE (15-64) 62.5 62.5r 62.7
r=revised
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, editing by Gavin Jones)
