The unemployment rate went up in August to 12.4% in a month that should have seen the figure drop, according to provisional figures from the National Institute of Statistics.
The rate for July is now definitive at 12.3% up 0.2% but the August figure breaks a six month run of decreases which the coalition has used to prove its strategy of austerity has been showing positive economic results.
The August increase, as it is an estimate, will be confirmed in a month but if it remains the same will the first after six consecutive months of drops, or at least stable unemployment rates and will not please coalition strategists with less than a week to go before the October 4th election.
In annual terms, the figure looks more comfortable as in August 2014, the rate was 1.2% higher than the current provisional figure.
In terms of people, August recorded 633,000 unemployed, 4,800 more than in July with Portugal having the third lowest European rate of jobs available.
The Institute’s figures showed that 500,000 unemployed have vanished from the list of those receiving benefits while unemployed.
This pleases the treasury as it has seen a drop in expenditure on benefits of €347 million with now only 267,000 unemployed receiving support despite 863,000 being out of work.
