More than half a million more employed people and more than four hundred thousand fewer unemployed people in one year. Istat data for the third quarter of 2024 confirm the trend: growing employment, accompanied by a further reduction in unemployment.
Employment increased by 117 thousand units (+0.5%) compared to the previous quarter and by 517 thousand units (+2.2%) on an annual basis. This trend reflects a positive dynamic that increasingly favors stable contracts. The increase in employment is driven by permanent employees (+111 thousand, +0.7% on a quarterly basis, +3.6% on an annual basis) and by self-employed workers (+43 thousand, +0.8% on a quarterly basis , +2.6% on an annual basis). Temporary workers, on the other hand, are decreasing, with a decrease of 37 thousand units (-1.3%) compared to the previous quarter and of 5.9% compared to the same period in 2023.
The employment rate rises to 62.4% (+0.2 points quarterly, +1 point annually), while the unemployment rate drops to 6.1%marking a decline of 0.6 points in the quarter and 1.7 points compared to the third quarter of 2023. The number of unemployed people fell by 149 thousand units on a quarterly basis (-8.7%) and by 418 thousand on an annual basis ( -22.7%). However, the number of inactive people between 15 and 64 years old increases (+88 thousand, +0.7% quarterly, +100 thousand, +0.8% annually), bringing the inactivity rate to 33.4% (+0.2 points).
In terms of hours worked, labor input increased by 0.2% compared to the previous quarter and by 1.5% on an annual basis. However, hours worked per employee are decreasing (-0.9% quarterly and -1.0% annually). In the same period, GDP remained stationary in economic terms and recorded growth of 0.4% on an annual basis.
The dynamics of the labor market therefore highlights a sustained recovery in employment, albeit with some critical issues such as the decline in fixed-term contracts and a slight increase in the number of inactive people between 15 and 64 years old.i (+88 thousand, +0.7% compared to the previous quarter). Businesses continue to face an increase in labor costs. On an annual basis, this grew by 4.6%, driven by increases in wages (+4.3%) and social contributions (+5.1%). This is a dynamic linked to contract renewals.
Despite the positive signs, some critical issues remain. The use of layoffs has increased, reaching 8 hours for every thousand hours worked, and the vacancy rate, stable at 2% on a quarterly basis, drops by 0.2 points on an annual basis.
The data for the third quarter therefore show that the Italian labor market continues its recovery path, but the stability of growth in the context of a stagnant GDP remains to be monitored.
