The number of unemployed people enrolled in the employment centres fell 8.1% in July, in homologous terms, but rose 1.7% in June, after five consecutive months of retreating, to 269,100, according to data released today by IEFP.
© SHUTTERSTOCK
20/08/2026
by
Lusa
Sthe data released today by the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP), at the end of July, “were registered in the Employment Services of the Continent and Autonomous Regions, 269,100 unemployed individuals, number representing 66.9% of a total of 402,238 job applications”.
There are 23,725 people enrolled in the employment centres from July 2025. For this retreat, “in absolute variation, those enrolled less than 12 months ago (-13,450), those seeking a new job (-20,664) and those over 25 years old (-19,582).
However, in the chain variation, i.e., in the face of June, there are more 4,583 people enrolled in the employment centres.
This balance sheet therefore disrupts a five-month round of retreats, as the number of unemployed people in employment centres has been falling since February.
With regard to the professional groups with the highest expression, compared to the homologous period, there was a decrease in the “skilled workers in industry, construction and craftsmen” (-13.6%), the “installers and machinery workers and the assembly (-10.9%), the “administrative staff” (-10.4%) and the “personal, protection and safety workers and sellers (-10.2%)”, notes the IEFP.
However, the institute also stresses that the largest fall was in the professional group of “farmers and skilled workers in agriculture, fisheries and forest”, having fallen by 20.6%, but stresses that “its overall impact is limited by the low overall weight of only 2.1%”.
On the other hand, there has been an increase in unemployment in “representatives of legislative power, executive bodies, directors, executive managers (+8.3%) and in “Especialists of intellectual and scientific activities” (+0.9%), but the latter group is highlighted by the relevant weight in total (12%),” he adds.
Regionally, and similar to the previous month, unemployment fell in July in all regions, with the highest figures observed in the North (-13%), Madeira (-8.5%) and the Azores (-6%).
In the chain comparison, there was an increase in some regions, and the most significant increases were recorded in the Alentejo (+2.9%) and the Centre.
At the end of July, unsatisfied job vacancies reached 18,739 in employment services across the country, which corresponds to a decrease in job vacancies in the annual analysis (-275, -1.4%), but higher than the previous month (+737; +4.1%).