29th Nov 2013 09:55
ROME (Alliance News) - Unemployment rate in Italy remained unchanged at an all-time high of 12.5 percent in October, the latest figures from statistical office Istat revealed Friday.
The number of unemployed was 3.2 million in October, essentially unchanged from the previous month but 9.9 percent higher than last year.
The number of unemployed persons in the 15-24 age group totaled 663,000 during the month. The unemployment rate for this group was 41.2 percent, higher than 40.5 percent in the previous month.
There were 22.4 million employed persons in Italy in October. This was almost unchanged from the previous month, but 1.8 percent less than a year earlier. The employment rate was 55.5 percent.
According to Istat estimates, 22.4 million persons were employed in the third quarter, down 2.3 percent from third quarter of 2012. The employment rate was 55.6 percent. The number of unemployed rose annually to 2.8 million and the jobless rate was 11.3 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX