Portugal unemployment rises to 5.5% in third quarter as job growth slows

Unemployment rate rises on the quarter

The National Statistics Institute (INE) reported on Wednesday, 4 November, that Portugal's unemployment rate reached 5.5% in the third quarter of 2026. The figure is 0.2 percentage points above the second quarter but 0.3 points below the same quarter of 2025, when it stood at 5.8%. An estimated 316.8 thousand people were unemployed, up 5.3% (16.0 thousand) on the previous quarter and down 3.0% (9.8 thousand) on a year earlier. The INE attributed the annual decline mainly to falls among men (9.8 thousand, 6.4%), people aged 25 to 34 (3.9 thousand, 4.9%) and those aged 35 to 44 (4.4 thousand, 7.9%). Further decreases came from people looking for a new job (18.0 thousand, 6.5%) and from those unemployed for less than 12 months (6.5 thousand, 3.1%).

Q3 20255.8%

Q3 20265.5%

Q3 2025

5.8 %

Q3 2026

5.5 %

Data from the article text

Regional differences

Three NUTS II regions sat above the national average. The Península de Setúbal recorded 6.3%, the North 6.2% and Greater Lisbon 6.0%. All other regions had lower rates, with the Alentejo at 4.8% and the Centre at 4.6%. Among the regions where unemployment rose on the quarter, the Alentejo posted the largest increase at 0.8 percentage points. The gap between the highest and lowest regional rates is therefore wide, with Setúbal at the top of the national ranking.

Península de Setúbal6.3%

Norte6.2%

Grande Lisboa6%

Alentejo4.8%

Centro4.6%

Península de Setúbal

6.3 %

Norte

6.2 %

Grande Lisboa

6 %

Alentejo

4.8 %

Centro

4.6 %

Data from the article text

Youth and underused labour

Unemployment among people aged 16 to 24 was estimated at 19.9%, up 1.6 percentage points on the previous quarter and up 1.1 points on the year. Labour underutilisation, which adds part-time underemployment and inactive people who either want work but are not available or are available but not seeking jobs, covered 549.1 thousand people. That is up 4.4% (23.3 thousand) on the quarter and down 4.3% (24.8 thousand) on a year earlier. The underutilisation rate stood at 9.4%, up 0.3 points on the quarter and down 0.5 points on the year, the second lowest since the indicator was first analysed in the first quarter of 2011. The working-age inactive population rose to 3,734.5 thousand, up 0.6% (22.4 thousand) on the quarter.

Employment growth slows

Employment stood at 5,391.0 thousand, up 1.1% (58.9 thousand) year on year but down 0.2% (8.8 thousand) on the second quarter. PÚBLICO noted that employment normally grows in summer because of seasonal work in tourism and agriculture, so this quarter's dip runs against the usual pattern. The employment rate fell to 58.0%, down 0.3 points on the second quarter and up 0.2 points on a year earlier. Services drove most of the gain with growth of 1.7%, and financial and insurance activities added 17.8 thousand people (15.7%). Women (1.2%), workers aged 55 to 64 (2.6%), graduates (5.7%) and people on permanent contracts (2%) also contributed to the annual increase. According to PÚBLICO, the active population passed 5.7 million, its highest level since 2011. DN, using its own calculations, described the annual rise of 1.1% as the weakest in two and a half years and noted that this quarter marks the second quarterly contraction of 2026 and the fourth quarterly fall since the pandemic. DN also pointed out that the new figures are still measured against older population estimates, which overstated the number of immigrants.