| Actual | Previous | |
| Rate | 5.6% | 5.3% |
Highlights
Italy's unemployment rate stood at 5.6 percent in the second quarter, upfrom the first quarter but down 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier, pointing to continued labor market tightening on an annual basis despite a slight quarterly uptick.
The number of unemployed rose to 1.440 million, up 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter but down 9.8 percent year-on-year. Employment reached 24.363 million, up 0.6 percent on the quarter and 1.0 percent on the year, with permanent positions growing 1.0 percent annually while temporary employment fell 1.2 percent. The employment rate for those aged 15-64 rose to 63.1 percent, with the strongest annual gains among the 50-64 age group, up 1.9 percentage points.
Hours worked wereup 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 1.3 percent year-on-year, led by services and construction, while agriculture hours declined 1.4 percent on the year.
Labor costs continued to climb, with the overall labor cost index up 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter and 2.8 percent year-on-year. Gross wages and salaries rose 0.4 percent on the quarter and 2.7 percent annually, while social security contributions increased faster, up 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and 3.4 percent year-on-year.
Contractual wages averaged 2,487 euros per month, up 1.5 percent year-on-year, with industry and market services running higher at 2,551 euros, up 2.3 percent annually — indicating wage growth remains positive but is being outpaced somewhat by the rise in total employment costs to employers.