Italy - Unemployment Rate
Italy: Unemployment Rate
| Mnemonic | LBR.IITA | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | %, SA | |
| Adjustments | Seasonally Adjusted | |
| Monthly | ||
| Data | Feb 2024 | 7.46 |
| Jan 2024 | 7.31 | |
Series Information
| Source | Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) |
| Release | Employment Status Estimates |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Start Date | 1/31/2004 |
| End Date | 2/29/2024 |
Italy: Labor
| Reference | Last | Previous | Units | Frequency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment Rate | Feb 2024 | 7.46 | 7.31 | %, SA | Monthly |
| Labor Force Employment | 2023 Q4 | 23,729 | 23,585 | Ths. #, SA | Quarterly |
| Primary Industries Employment | 2023 | 872.1 | 885.3 | Ths. # | Annual |
| Secondary Industries Employment | 2023 | 6,134 | 6,037 | Ths. # | Annual |
| Total Employment | 2023 Q4 | 23,729 | 23,585 | Ths. #, SA | Quarterly |
| Unemployment | 2023 Q4 | 1,901 | 1,937 | Ths. #, SA | Quarterly |
| Wage & Salaries | 2022 | 787,231 | 736,160 | Mil. EUR | Annual |
| Agriculture Employment | 2017 | 996,718 | 993,689 | # | Annual |
| Tertiary Industries Employment | 2017 | 17,760,676 | 17,907,124 | # | Annual |
Release Information
In order to improve the timeliness of statistical information on the Italian labour market and in accordance with the agreements made within the European Union, Istat publishes monthly estimates of the main labour market indicators resulting from the “Labour force survey”. The monthly press release date is identical to Eurostat's announcement of the uneployment figures for the European countries. Furthermore, Istat also provides estimates of employment and inactivity based on gender. The monthly estimates are based on information collected from the Labour Force Survey. These are produced using appropriate statistical methods without changing the design of the survey. Latest monthly series should be considered as provisional. Series are reported since 2004.
The methodology employed untill last press release (December 2015 data) was in accordance to the process that monthly time series were seasonally adjusted and then they were reconciled to the corresponding quarterly SA series. In this way the weighted average of monthly data (with weights equal to the number of weeks in each month, 4 or 5) was made equal to the corresponding quarterly figure. To perform this, a reconciliation procedure in two steps was used to ensure consistency between different aggregates and the total population (contemporary constraints) and between monthly and quarterly SA series (inter-temporal constraints).
This procedure was justified not only by the need to ensure consistency between the corresponding monthly and quarterly time series, but also because of the better quality of quarterly SA series compared with monthly ones, at the moment when monthly data started to be produced by Istat (late 2009). Quarterly SA series were available starting from the fourth quarter 1992, while the monthly since January 2004.
Today, the length of monthly series (13 years) guarantees the production of SA series whose quality is comparable with the corresponding quarterly. Moreover, the SA monthly series are the most suitable to describe the short term dynamics of the indicators and they are more timely than quarterly ones in capturing changes in the dynamics, thus producing less and smaller revisions. For these reasons, after a period in which Istat conducted experimental studies, a new procedure has been introduced in occasion of the monthly release referred to January 2016 (1st March 2016).
The new procedure is conceptually simpler, it essentially consists in producing monthly SA series and obtaining the corresponding quarterly SA series by calculating a weighted average as previously described. The results are monthly and quarterly SA series consistent among them and at different levels of aggregation.
The employed include persons aged 15 and over who during the reference week:
- played at least one hour of work in any activity involving a monetary consideration or in kind;
- have played at least one hour of unpaid work in the company of a family in which normally work together;
- are absent from work (for example, for holidays or illness). Employees absent from work are considered employed if the absence does not exceed three months, or during the absence if they continue to receive at least 50% of pay. The independents away from work, except for family workers are considered employed if during the period of absence, maintain activity. The family workers are considered employed if the absence does not exceed three months.
Unemployed: include non-employed persons between 15 and 74 who:
- have made at least an active action research work in the four weeks preceding the reference week and were available for work (or start their own businesses) within the next two weeks;
- or, start a job within three months after the reference week and would be available to work (or start their own businesses) within the next two weeks, if it were possible to anticipate the beginning of work.
Inactive: includes persons who are not part of the work force, or those not classified as employed or seeking employment.
Employment rate: ratio between the employed and the corresponding reference population.
Unemployment rate: ratio of people seeking employment and the corresponding labor force.
Unemployment rate on long-term relationship between persons seeking employment for twelve months or more and the labor force.
Inactivity rate: ratio of persons outside the labor force and the corresponding reference population. The sum of the rate of unemployment and the rate of activity is equal to 100%.
The release is subject to revisions.
