Speaking to journalists outside the restaurant "A Valenciana" in Lisbon, where he had lunch on 20 May as a sign of support for the restaurant sector, the head of state considered that the increase in the number of unemployed in April "was expected" and was "very contained because of the 'lay-off'.

"And then I think it is necessary to consider the extent to which it is possible or not - the Government will know - to extend the 'lay-off' a little more, if there are financial availabilities, namely European, because the 'lay-off' has been a cushion pad," he said.

"There are hundreds of thousands of workers who have not gone into unemployment and are waiting to accompany the resumption of economic activity," he said.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed, however, that there must be "financial availability" and referred the question to the executive: "The Government will know if it is possible to extend the lay-off a little longer or not".

As for the 22.1 percent increase in the number of unemployed enrolled in the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP) in April compared to the previous month, according to the head of state "it is a number that does not exceed what was expected", and "the explanation is the 'lay-off'".

"It is an increase of 22 percent on the global percentage of unemployed, which means that it passes to a value that is still clearly below 10 percent or 9 percemt", said the President of the Republic, adding that "there were those who expected much worse already in April".