“The unemployment rate dropped again, to 6.4% [in August], and there is a very important aspect: 86,000 less unemployed in August this year than we had in August last year”, said Siza Vieira, considering that this is a very small value and that illustrates the recovery of the Portuguese economy.

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced that the unemployment rate fell to 6.4% in August, 0.2 percentage points less than in July and 1.5 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

The Minister of State and Economy, who was speaking to Lusa news agency during a visit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Visteon's factory of electronic components for the automobile industry, in Palmela, stressed that Portugal currently has the “highest number of people employed that we've had since records began”, but he warned that the opposite problem is beginning to occur, the “lack of availability of labour” in almost all sectors of activity.

"Therefore, we have to continue to make a great effort towards the qualification of people, so that they can adapt to the new areas that are demanding more and more workers, and also work with companies and business associations, in order to facilitate the arrival to Portugal of the human resources that our economy so lacks”, he said.