The unemployment rate in Portugal remained at 5.7% in July, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The employed population reached 5.347 million people, 1.6% more than in the same period of the previous year. Unemployment among women stood at 6.4%, above the 4.9% recorded among men, while among young people the rate rose to 20.1%.
The Portuguese economy grew 2.5% in the second quarter year-on-year and 0.8% compared to the first quarter. Growth was driven by net external demand, with exports increasing more intensely. The inactivity rate fell to 29.6%, the lowest value since February 1998.
Inflation accelerated to 3.3% in August, 0.3 percentage points more than in July, driven mainly by rising fuel prices. Energy products recorded a year-on-year change of 12.2%. Underlying inflation, which excludes unprocessed food and energy, rose to 2.7%. The HICP, used for comparisons in the European Union, recorded a change of 3.6%.
In the tourism sector, overnight stays in tourist accommodation increased 1.5% in the first seven months of the year, to 46.5 million, with total revenues of 4,073.2 million euros. In July alone, the sector recorded 9.6 million overnight stays and total revenues of 923.7 million euros.
