According to numbers released by the Institute for Employment and Professional Training (IEFP) this drop represented a 13.3 percent of jobless workers in year-on-year terms.

This number only reflects the number of workers registered at job centres across the country, which totalled 598, 581 people, down

91.954 on 12 months before.

Overall, 849,175 people are currently unemployed while actively seeking work, IEFP figures revealed.

Unemployment was down in all regions of the country, with the Algarve reporting the greatest reduction, with 16.7 percent fewer people queing outside job centres in December 2014