The National Statistics Institute confirmed on Thursday that the unemployment rate in Portugal fell from 6.9% in August to 6.6%, in September, the lowest since September 2002.
"In September 2018, the unemployment rate was 6.6%, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, down 0.2 points from three months earlier and 2.0 points less than in the same month of 2017," read the INE report.
"Not since September 2002 has there been such a low unemployment rate."
In relation to August, the number of unemployed decreased by 18,000 people, while the employed population increased by 8,800 people.
However, the National Statistics Institute estimates that in October the unemployment rate is expected to rise by one percentage point to 6.7%, a figure that will be confirmed in a month’s time.
The 2019 State Budget foresees an unemployment rate of 6.3% for 2019, down from the 6.9% forecast for this year.
