Economy of Portugal - Employment and Wages

Employment and Wages

As of 2012, the unemployment rate is at almost 15% as of April 2012. The number of unemployed people has increased consistently since 2000 and is estimated to be at around 1 million.

As of May 2006, over 420,000 people were unemployed in Portugal. The unemployment rate in the country was 7.7%. In 2007 the unemployment rate reached 8.4%, the highest unemployment rate in Portugal since 1987. The average European Union unemployment rate decreased to a record low of 7.3% in 2007. In the Portuguese sub-region of Vale do Ave, the unemployment rate has reached 15%, and in the Península de Setúbal sub-region 12.5%.

Officially, in 2008 the unemployment decreased to 7.3% in the second quarter of 2008. However, it immediately rose again to higher rates. By December 2009, unemployment had surpassed the 10% mark nationwide.

Although being both a developed country and a high income country, Portugal has the lowest GDP per capita in Western Europe and its population has one of the lowest incomes per head among member states of the European Union. According to the Eurostat it had the 6th lowest purchasing power among the 27 member states of the European Union for the period 2005-2007.

Maria da Conceição Cerdeira, one of the authors of a published research study made by the Technical University of Lisbon's ISEG (Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão), explained that "in a generic way, there is not a high intensity of work, or a great psychological pressure" in Portugal, for the mass of common ordinary workers, unlike what happens in Northern Europe or North America. Less pressure does not mean, however, a better job. The last European survey of workers, published in 2007 and which formed the basis of this 2009 research study showed that Portugal is the 5th European country with lower quality of work.