Portugal’s unemployment rate edged down to 5.7% in April 2026, from 5.8% in each of the previous two months and 6.2% a year earlier. The number of unemployed fell to 322,000, a decline of 3,300 from the prior month. A notable gender gap persisted, with the unemployment rate at 6.1% for women versus 5.3% for men. Youth unemployment dropped to 17.9%, its lowest level since October 2022.
At the same time, the employment rate inched up to 66.2%—the highest since February 1998—from 66.0% in the previous month, as the number of employed increased by 23,000 to 5.344 million. The inactivity rate decreased to 29.8% from 30.0%, while the labour force expanded by 19,900 to 5.666 million. The labour underutilisation rate stood at 9.7%, slightly below the 9.8% recorded in the preceding month.
