Italy April jobless rate edges down to 5.1%, 123,000 jobs created

ROME - Italy's unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.1% in April and a net 123,000 jobs were created during the month, national statistics bureau ISTAT reported on Friday.

• The jobless rate was below a median forecast of 5.3% in a Reuters poll of eight analysts, following a 5.2% rate in March.

• In April, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, fell to 16.9%, the lowest level since the current statistical series began in 2004, from 17.7% the previous month.

• The employment rate, one of the lowest in the euro zone, rose to 63.1% from 62.7% in March, revised up from 62.4%.

• The "inactivity rate", measuring people neither working nor looking for work, declined to 33.4% from 33.7% in March, ISTAT said.

• Employment has risen despite weak economic growth.

• Giorgia Meloni's government currently has a growth target of 0.6% for this year, revised marginally down last month due to surging energy prices and geopolitical tensions, from the 0.7% estimate set in September.

• Italian gross domestic product rose 0.5% in 2025, a third straight year of sub-1% growth.

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, graphic by Stefano Bernabei, editing by Gavin Jones)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 1:51 AM.