The overall level of unemployment in Portugal has fallen since it peaked at 17.5% at the start of 2013. However it was announced today that unemployment for the young has continued to rise though and today it was announced that it stands at a staggering 42.1%.
The announcement was made by the Instituto Nacional de Statística who stated that there were now more than 165,000 15-24 year olds out of work and claiming benefits from the state. This marks a rise from the same period in 2012 when youth employment was 32.1%.
Opponents to the ruling Social Democrat Party argued that these figures showed that the government’s austerity measures were ‘destroying the economy and society’ of Portugal.
The figures are in keeping with a report published yesterday by the International Labor Office (part of the United Nations) which stated that globally the young were three times more likely to be unemployed than their parents. This was blamed on the slow pace of recovery following the economic crisis of the past few years, the ILO estimated that the global youth unemployment rate was 12.6%.
A lack of job prospects has been cited by many Portuguese for leaving their home nation. While quite a large number have moved to the developing economies of the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Brazil plenty have come to the UK.
Britain hasn’t been hit as hard as Portugal – few have – but has it’s own problems with its young people. There are 979,000 16-24 year olds out of work in this country, nearly 5 times that as Portugal, though as a percentage that is only roughly 20%. While the situation is not quite as desperate as back on the Iberian Peninsula many discover that the grass isn’t much cheaper in the UK where they join almost a million other 16-24 year olds looking for the few jobs available.
Below is a table which compares the level of unemployment throughout the continent in contrast to that in Portugal and the UK. Portugal suffers from the third highest rate of youth unemployment, below neighbours Spain and falls a long way the ‘current sick man of Europe’ where almost two out of three young people haven’t got a job.
The Portugal Connection 