Italy’s unemployment rate logged a surprise decline at the start of the year after the previous month’s figure was revised up, preliminary data from the statistical office ISTAT showed Tuesday.
The jobless rate fell to 11.5 percent from a revised 11.6 percent in December. Economists had expected the figure to remain unchanged at December’s original rate of 11.4 percent, which was a three-year low.
The 11.5 percent rate was previously recorded for November.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate, which applies to the 15-24 group, climbed to 39.3 percent from 38.7 percent.
The number of unemployed declined by 1,000 persons month-on-month to 2.95 million. The figure fell 169,000 from a year ago.
In contrast, the number of employed increased by 70,000 persons monthly and 299,000 annually to total 22.63 million.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, the results of the latest purchasing managers’ survey for the manufacturing sector showed that factories created jobs for the 14th successive month in February amid higher workloads, although growth momentum lost steam.
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