According to statistics from the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP), the North region recorded in July a total of 139,940 people registered for unemployment, registering a drop of 12.5 percent ​​compared to February, the month in which 159,942 had registered.

February was the month in which the growth trend in the number of people registered in employment centres was reversed, with the North region recording, since then, a decrease in the number of unemployed.

In that month, the North region had 159,942 unemployed, in March with 158,483, in April with 156,362, in May with 149,074, in June with 142,343 and in July with 139,940.

Of the total number of applicants to employment centres in the region in July, more than half (58 percent) were women, a trend that has been observed over the past six months.

Compared to February, the number of people registered in July looking for a new job registered a drop of 12.9 percent, having increased from 146,506 to 127,554 the number of unemployed.

The number of people registered looking for their first job registered, compared to February, a drop of 7.8 percent, moving from 13,436 to 12,386 unemployed in July.

Compared to July 2020, the month in which it accounted for 154,667, the North region registered 14,727 fewer people registered in employment centres. However, compared to the same period of 2019, it accounts for 15,694 more unemployed.

According to IEFP statistics, in July, the municipalities of Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto were the ones that registered the highest number of unemployed people in the region, with 16,230 and 12,319 people registered, respectively.

These two municipalities are followed by Matosinhos (7,608 registered for unemployment), Gondomar (7,500), Braga (6,609) and Guimarães (5,887).

In the country, the number of unemployed registered at job centres dropped 9.5 percent in July in year-on-year terms and 2.4 percent compared to June.

According to the IEFP, at the end of July, 368,704 unemployed people were registered with the Employment Services of the Mainland and the Autonomous Regions, a number that represents 66.5 percent of a total of 554,797 job applications.

The total number of unemployed registered in the country was lower than in the same month of 2020 (-38,598 people, equivalent to a drop of 9.5 percent) and also lower compared to the previous month (-9,168 unemployed, a fall of 2.4 percent).